Chapter 4

About 3 months had gone by and it was no secret to their friends that Jack and Sam were a couple. They were calling each other often, Jack would bring her lunch, they would go out to lunch, it was so obvious Daniel even called Sam out on it so she let him in on their secret. Daniel and Mitchell sat in Sam's Office when Daniel finally told her they had known for a while, it was that obvious. "Well, it's about time! Congratulations." Sam smiled to her friends then got white as a ghost and grabbed her waste basket where she lost her breakfast. Daniel jumped to run to her side. "You ok Sam? Let's get you down to the infirmary."

"I'm fine, just a stomach thing, I feel fine now!" Daniel and Mitchell each had an arm, they were not buying it until Dr Lam checked her out. Blood was drawn while the Dr kicked the guys out of the room so she could talk to her patient.

"General Carter, how long have you been getting sick?" Sam shook her head, "this was the second time, but I am fine, it's like a flu or something. Just let me go home and rest, I'll be fine tomorrow." The doctor shook her head, "I don't think so. Have you been sexually active lately?" Sam blushed, it was not anyone's business but she knew she had to answer the doctor's questions. "Yes, actually, why?" the doctor smiled, "have you been getting your cycle regularly?" Sam thought about it, "I don't remember, I may have missed…" Sam looked to the doctor with a little worry. "Wait a minute, are you thinking I am pregnant? I can't be, I am on birth control. That injectable kind you give me." The doctor looked in the file, "General, it looks like you had your last injection prior to leaving on The General Hammond, it's been a year now. That shot is only good for 3 months."

Sam started to panic, "what the hell am I going to do now?" Dr Lam tilted her head, "I assume you know the father and that he would be supportive if not excited, correct?" It was no secret to her who the father of the baby would be and she knew Jack loved kids and he loved Sam so she didn't see a problem. "Alright, let me run this bloodwork and I will call you later. For now, go home, rest, remember to eat and drink. If my suspicion is correct, I will refer you to a good OB-GYN if you don't have one already. He's good and he's funny, you'll like him."

Sam knew what she meant, he was tight lipped and not a spreader of secrets, not that she needed to worry, it was ok for them to be together and certainly it seemed like everyone knew it anyway but it still didn't feel right.

So she went home and laid down, Jack wasn't home, he was out grocery shopping or something. When he returned he was concerned but she simply told him she had a stomach bug and would be fine so he accepted. When her phone rang later she jumped to answer it. "General Carter, how are you ma'am?" When she heard the doctor's voice she took a deep breath, "I'm feeling better thank you." "Well, the blood work came back and it looks like I was right, you are pregnant. Can you come in tomorrow morning to meet Dr Stanley and we can get an ultrasound?" Sam wiped her eyes, "sure, ya, see you in the morning."

She hung up just as Jack walked into the room and he could tell she was conflicted. "Who was that?" Sam smiled up to him and took his hand. "Sit down Jack." So he complied and Sam turned to look at him. "That was Dr Lam…. It seems I am ah….." she closed her eyes and began crying so he pulled her into his chest to hold her. "What baby?" he was getting worried and wiped her eyes with his thumbs. "Jack, I am pregnant." It took a moment to register what she just said but once it did he squeezed her tight. "Oh my gosh! We're having a baby?!" He seemed very excited which calmed her down a bit knowing he wasn't upset. He kissed her on the lips and she finally started to smile.

"Jack, I'm nervous. I am in this new job and come on, I am no spring chicken anymore. I am over 40 now!" Jack laughed, "yes, but you are the most physically fit and healthiest 40 something year old I know! You'll be fine. Me, now I'm no spring chicken. By the time he or she is a teenager I will be chasing him in my wheelchair for crying out loud!" They both started laughing knowing it could be true. "Hey, with me retired, it will be fine."

So in the morning Sam went to the infirmary for her appointment and had the ultrasound. Everything looked good then Dr Stanley stopped and was moving the wand slowly rechecking things on the screen. He looked up and smiled and Dr Lam who saw what he was seeing. "What is it?" Sam asked them. "General, do you have twins in your family?" Sam thought for a moment. "No, why?" Dr Lam smiled and asked again, "how about the father's side, any twins?" Sam thought for a moment, she really didn't know anything about Jack's family. "Not that I know of." Dr Stanley smiled to her, "She's trying to tell you that either you have twins in one of your lineages OR one of you is a fertile myrtle, cause you have two in that belly of yours!" Sam didn't know how to respond. "Congratulations General!" Dr Lam smiled. "I want to see you in a month for a recheck young lady." Dr Stanley smiled at her and gave her a towel to finish cleaning the gel off her stomach. "I will Doctor, thanks."

That night Sam got home and Jack was waiting with bated breath. "Well, it seems that we are having twins." She smiled to him unsure of what his reaction would be. He nearly started jumping up and down, "twins?! That's great! So everything else looked ok?" He started to calm down seeing she wasn't as excited, "you're ok though right?" She nodded, "ya, I am healthy as a horse just worried about how I am going to handle everything." Jack snuck his chin over the back of her shoulder and pulled her into him, "you mean we, how WE are going to handle this and it will be fine."

When Sam was on the couch watching tv, Jack had gone to the bedroom to get something. When he returned he dropped on one knee in front of her. She smiled and looked at him, "Jack? What are you doing?" Jack was trying to recite what he was going to say and finally answered her as he took her hand. "Samantha Carter, you are my rock, you are my everything, no one can make me laugh, make me smile, and drive me mad like you do, are the reason I made it where I am today and I want to be sure that now you agree to spend the rest of your days with me. Your dad was right, we are soul mates and I want to give you this ring as proof of my love for you and pledge my honor to love and protect you and our children for the remainder of our years…. Samantha Carter, will you marry me?"

Sam was in tears as she nodded and he slipped the ring on her finger. "Yes Jack… yes!" Jack grabbed each side of her face and kissed her before he sat back and she could see the little tear falling from the corner of his eye. "I love you Sam!"

The two sat together for a few hours when Sam reached for her phone, "I think I should call Cassandra to let her know everything that is happening, what do you think?" Jack released his hold so she could get the phone and dialed.

"Hello?" Cassie answered. "Hey Cassie, it's me, Sam. How is everything going out in warm California?" Cassie smiled, "it is great, how's everything going out there?" "Well, things are going well…." Sam was interrupted by Jack yelling into the phone from behind her, "Hey Cass!" Cassie laughed and yelled back, "Hi Uncle Jack!" Just then it hit the younger woman, "you are still at Jack's House?" Sam put the phone on speaker so Jack could talk as well, "I just put you on speaker phone. Uh, yes, I am still staying at Jack's house. But we have some news for you…" Cassie's smile could be detected through the phone when she interrupted "Did you two FINALLY just do it?!" "Cassandra!" Sam chirped back. "Geeze kiddo, you make it sound like we are in a Nike commercial! But ya we did it!" Sam slapped Jack on the shoulder, "Ja-ack!" Cassie was laughing, "AWESOME! How was it?" Jack looked to Sam, "Cassie, I am not getting into that. But yes, as Jack said, yes, we have done it." Jack jumped back in, "it was great!" Cassie could hear the two bickering and she rolled her eyes, 'like an old married couple' she thought to herself.

"But ANYWAY, I wanted to call and let you know a couple things that have come up. First things first, I am pregnant and it looks like twins." All they could hear was excited screaming on the other end, "That's AWESOME! Congratulations you two!" Cassie had a clue but wanted to know more, "and…." "and.. Jack proposed to me tonight!" Jack figured Cassie must have been jumping with the excited sounds coming from her.

"Hey, I am taking Sam up to the cabin for Christmas, do you have any time off that you can come stay with us?" Cassie thought for a moment, "ya, actually I have two weeks off before I need to get back, I would LOVE to. As long as I won't be in the way of course!" "You're never in the way. When it gets closer shoot us your flight info. Fly into Duluth and we can run down and pick you up." Jack responded. "Sounds perfect Uncle Jack, I certainly will! Love ya! I'll be in touch!" "Bye baby!" Jack piped up. "Love you too Cassie, bye bye." Sam said as she hung up the phone.

As the months marched on, Sam and Jack were getting closer and Jack was attending all her doctor's appointments. While she was at work, Jack would work on the nursery, clearing out, repainting, putting down a new carpet and eventually furniture.

At Thanksgiving they invited Cassie, Daniel and Mitchell and they had a great day together. Cassie stayed with them for two days before she had to head back to school and she couldn't wait to see them again at Christmas. They invited Daniel and Mitchell for Christmas but Daniel had already agreed to go to Chulak and spend the holidays with Teal'c and Mitchell had plans with his family.