Title:Surprise Delivery
Characters:Team
Pairing:Sam/Cam
Warning:None
Spoilers:None
Rating: K

Surprise Delivery

"Colonel Mitchell to General Landry's office, immediately," Walter's voice boomed out the tannoy speakers, echoing along the corridor Cam was currently walking down. He'd just got to Sam's lab, his intended destination, and as Cam stopped in the doorway Sam looked up from her work and smirked at him when he rolled his eyes.

"Have fun!" Sam said as she turned back to the device on her workbench.

"I'll be right back," he said as he turned on his heels and jogged off to the elevators.

……………

Cam arrived at Landry's office in record time and leant heavily against the doorframe to get his breath back.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" he wheezed as he rolled off the frame and into the room.

"Colonel Mitchell, yes. I wanted to tell you that this morning you received a delivery."

"Delivery? As in parcel?" Cam quickly tried to remember what he had ordered and why he hadn't had it delivered to his apartment, but nothing came to mind.

"Not so much parcel, Colonel, as – bundle," He chuckled quietly to himself. Both at the joke he'd made, and Cam look of confusion.

Landry pressed a button on his telecom and leaned forward to the microphone. "Walter?"

Pause. "Yes, Sir?" came the tinny reply.

"Bring up Colonel Mitchell's delivery."

"On my way, Sir." The link crackled out and Landry leaned back in his chair.

"Sir, I haven't-" Cam started, trying to find an excuse to explain the situation, but then realised he didn't even know what the situation was, so resorted to opening and closing his mouth, knowing that somehow that wasn't going to help much.

"Calm down, Mitchell. While my duties as commander of this facility does not include hand-delivering parcels and post to my personnel, this particular instance was, I felt, a little – odd – to be put through the general postal system of the base."

"Sir, I have no idea wh-" Cam stopped as Walter walked into the office. In his arms was the sleeping form of a baby, not much more than a month old, dressed in a simple white flannel baby-suit.

Cam gaped open-mouthed and the site of the baby, then turned back to see Landry smiling adoringly at her, a far-away look briefly visible in his eyes.

"Sir, I- I don't-" Cam stammered.

Landry refocused his attention on Cam, "Colonel Mitchell, this baby was found this morning at approximately 0330 hours in a baby carrier at the front gates to the complex. She was found in perfect health, sleeping peacefully, wrapped up warm-"

"That's fine, Sir," Cam interrupted, "I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with me?"

Landry didn't answer at first, but got up to take the baby then nodded to Walter, who turned and left the office. "When the airmen found her, there was a note tucked into her blankets," He shifted his gaze from the baby in his arms to Cam, "addressed to you, Mitchell."

Cam couldn't stop his head jerking back in shock and his eyes widened. "Addressed to me…" He tried desperately to recall recent relationships. There were depressingly few, and none would have been the right time to explain the baby. "Can I- can I see the note?"

Landry nodded over to his desk where a short hand-written letter was lying, slightly crumpled, in the middle. How Cam hadn't noticed it before he didn't know. He picked up the note with a shaking hand and read it. His name was clearly written at the top.

Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell,

Situations have arisen and I am unable to continue to care for my daughter. Her name is Eleanor Hope. While she is loved by both myself and her father, we have decided this to be the best course of action. We hope situations with you are not as dire as ours. Take care of her, she is yours.

Cam stood there staring at the note, re-reading it over and over. His eyes lingered on the name printed at the bottom of the page. Clearly written, unmistakable.

Lt. Col. Samantha Carter of the SGC

In the back of his mind, Cam had recognised the handwriting. While scruffy and evidently rushed, it was without a doubt, Sam's.

"Oh God," was all Cam could get out.

"So you believe Colonel Carter wrote it?" Landry said softly from somewhere behind him.

"There seems to be no other explanation. Bar a woman with enough security clearance, the ability to reproduce Sam's handwriting, and unable to look after her child, but I don't know of any. But I still don't even understand this explanation." Cam turned to look at Landry.

"Early indications suggest that Colonel Carter from an alternate reality somehow crossed over into-"

"Ok, ok. I think I get the idea." Cam's eyes fell to the baby in the General's arms. Then a flash of confusion crossed his face and he turned back to the note, " 'Take care of her, she is yours'?" He glanced back to the General, "That means-" A lump caught in his throat and he swallowed, "So Carter and Mitchell hooked up in a alternate dimension, huh?" he let out a short laugh, but he didn't feel amused, or relieved. He'd fought his feelings for Sam for as long as he'd known her, successfully. But this? This messed everything up again. He sighed and couldn't stop a tear from rolling unchecked down his cheek.

"It might be best if you told Colonel Carter about the situation yourself, ease her into the idea."

"Yeh, I can do that," Cam sniffed and wiped the wet track the tear had left on his cheek. He stuffed the letter into a pocket in his BDUs and walked nervously closer to Landry, arms outstretched to hold the baby.

"There we go," he said as he lifted the little girl from the General's arms and rested her against his chest. A lumped formed in Cam's throat as her head nestled in the crook of his neck. It felt so perfect.

"Good luck, Cam," Landry patted the younger man's shoulder and walked back round to his desk and sat down. "The carrier is in the control room, if you want it. There are a few airmen out getting the necessary supplies as we speak."

"Thank you, General," Cam replied, slightly dazed. He was still staring down at the tiny, soft, warm body resting on his arms and chest, soft fair hair tickling his skin. He walked slowly out of the office and made his way back to Sam's lab.