Chapter four

A week later Jack was still waiting for his retirement request to be approved, when he started interviewing the surrogacy candidates. He had chosen eleven women out of the twenty who had responded to his ad, arranging to meet the first seven at a local coffee shop the following day.

But he was starting to feel nervous and excited, so just to make sure he didn't fail to ask them something important, he phoned Sam and asked her to join him for the interviews. To his great relief, she accepted. He picked her up at 0730, and Jack thought she seemed nervous. He wondered why, but instead of asking her, he became engulfed in his own worries as he drove them to the coffee shop. He hoped he was doing the right thing for everyone concerned.

The first prospective mother was a petite brunette, aged 23, who was a college student studying pharmacology. Jack thought she seemed very smart, and he thought she was pretty too, in a sort of 'Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island' sort of way. However, Sam managed to ask some pretty important questions, like how much sleep she got, how often she skipped meals because of her busy schedule, and several questions about her sexual habits, the answers to which soon had Jack changing his mind about the young woman's qualifications for the job.

The next woman arrived twenty minutes late, and she seemed to be in a hurry. And though she was a striking dark-haired beauty, Sam clearly didn't like her. After the woman left, Sam pointed out that the woman smelled like cigarettes, and that she seemed edgy and high-strung. "I think she smokes, and she's far too thin," she pointed out, and Jack agreed with her.

Then there was the single mother, who had brought along her two-year-old son. The boy sat on her lap the entire time, and Sam noted that he was very well behaved. Jack kept talking to the boy, instead of questioning the woman, so Sam decided to continue the questioning herself.

"Why do you want to do this? Is it just for the money?" she asked frankly.

Jack gave her a disapproving look. "Carter, that's not very polite."

"No, it's alright. I admit I need the money, Captain Carter, but I also love children. You see, my husband and I planned to have several more children. But he was killed last year in Iraq. Gary was a marine. It would be an honor to give you a child, Colonel," she said, tears glistening in her eyes.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Forbes." Jack felt sorry for the woman. She seemed like such a nice person, and her son was clean and obviously well cared for, and he was a cutie too. He was just about ready to tell her that they had a deal, when Sam asked him to step outside for a minute, so they could talk privately.

"What's wrong with her? I like her, Carter," he whined.

"Sir, I think you're basing your decision on your emotions, instead of common sense and good judgment. You don't know enough about this woman yet."

"Well, then we'll find out more about her. What don't you like about her, Carter?" He could tell there was something bothering his 2iC, but he couldn't imagine what it was. Mrs. Forbes seemed perfect to him.

"She seems too needy. She said they were planning to have more children, but now she can't. What if she wants another child so badly, that she'll do anything to get one? What if she won't give the baby up when it's born?"

"Maybe I should get a lawyer."

"Yes, of course you should! You haven't seen a lawyer yet?" Sam couldn't believe how naïvely he was behaving.

"No, I was hoping it wouldn't be necessary. Lawyers are such….slime balls," he said, his face morphing into a look of distaste.

"Some of them may be, Sir, but a lawyer could keep you from losing your child."

"You really think she'd do something like that? She seems so nice."

"I think you should be prepared for the worst." Sometimes Sam couldn't believe how innocent he could be. How could this man have done the things he'd done and still be such a trusting child? "People don't always do what they say they will do, Sir. You really should have a legal contract between you and the baby's mother."

That afternoon, after a quick bite to eat at a nearby diner, they saw four more women. Jack went home feeling worn out and disillusioned. After the first day of interviews, he felt like he'd been through a war. Every woman he liked, Carter found fault with, and she didn't seem to like any of the others either. He was upset by her attitude, but he did intend to take her advice; he would see a lawyer on Monday, just in case. But first there were four more candidates to interview on Sunday afternoon.

During the second day of interviews, Jack liked the third woman so much that he came right out and told her so. "You seem like just the type of person I'm looking for, Miz Brewster. How soon would you be able to get started?" Jack asked the tall blonde real estate agent.

"Sir!"

"What?!"

"Remember what we talked about yesterday." She really thought he should hold off making a choice until he discussed the matter with a lawyer. And besides that, he'd barely touched the surface with this woman! Sure she was attractive and poised, but what sort of person was she really?

"Carter, I like this woman, and if she wants to help me out…." Jack threw out his hands and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say 'why not?' He couldn't understand why Carter was being so difficult.

"You're not hiring her to make you dinner, Sir. This is a child we're talking about!" Sam yelled. She saw the woman cringe at her raised voice, but she couldn't help it. Sometimes he could be very infuriating, and this was definitely one of those times.

"Don't you think I know that?!" He could feel himself growing angrier by the second, and he could tell that the Ms. Brewster was getting embarrassed. He couldn't understand why Sam was being such a pill, when all he wanted to do was get this part over with, so he could get on with his life.

"I'm beginning to wonder if you know anything at all!" Sam yelled as she stood up, her pointer finger jabbing the air in Jack's direction.

"Carter!" Jack couldn't believe how insubordinate she was being. This was totally unlike her.

"I give up! You go ahead and screw up your life, if you want to!" Sam yelled, and then she stormed out of the coffee shop. Jack gaped at her, while Ms. Brewster stared in wide-eyed bewilderment.

Suddenly Jack realized that he was not alone. "Eh…sorry about that. I think she's just having a bad day. I'll have to get back to you," Jack quickly apologized as he rose from his seat.

"I'm sorry too. I don't think I'm interested after all."

"Why not?"

"Well….I must have misunderstood," the tall blonde replied hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" Jack thought he'd made himself pretty clear, so her remark puzzled him.

"I thought you said there was no woman in your life. If it's going to be Captain Carter's child too, I think she has just as much right to choose as you do."

"Oh, no, it's not like that. We're just friends. Listen, you seem really nice." Actually, he thought she was gorgeous, but he didn't think it would be appropriate to say so. After all, he wasn't looking for a date. Although…

"So do you," she replied, gazing up at him with big blue eyes.

All of a sudden Jack realized this woman looked a lot like Carter, except that her hair was much longer. The realization struck him like a lightning bolt. He didn't really know much about her, so was it her appearance that he found so appealing? And if that was true, what did it mean? Jack felt confused, and now all he could think about was Sam.

"Sorry! I'll have to get back to you," Jack told her quickly, and then he sprinted for the door. Just down the street he spotted Sam running for a taxi.

"Carter! Carter, wait up!" Jack caught up with her just as she was getting into the taxi. "Carter, what are you doing? I can take you home," he said, as he held onto the door.

"You have one more appointment, Sir, and I need to go to campus for a while," she said simply, and then she yanked the door shut.

Jack stepped back and watched the taxi speed away. He felt confused and unhappy about their fight, but there was another woman waiting to speak to him. So he went back inside.

The next interview was a total bust, as the woman was obviously a drug addict looking for a way to pay for her habit. He advised her to seek help, and she called him a few choice names and left in a huff. He felt bad for her, but mostly he felt bad about what had happened between him and Sam. From the very start it seemed like she was against this surrogacy thing, and that made him wonder if she had doubts about his ability to be a good parent.

All the way home, Jack kept thinking about everything that had happened the past two days, especially the arguments between him and Sam. He also thought about Ms. Brewster and how much she looked like Sam and what that might mean. And the more he thought about everything, the more confused and disappointed he felt. But there was also a niggling feeling of excitement in his belly, one that he couldn't explain, but one that felt sort of good.

There was one thing that was perfectly clear to him; he never should have asked for Sam's help. After all, this was his problem, not hers. And now he needed to clear the air of the tension between them, and he knew it wasn't something that could be done on the phone. He'd never been too good at mending fences, and apologies did not come easily for Jack O'Neill. But Sam's friendship was very important to him, so in this case he would bite the bullet and take the blame for everything.

TBC