Chapter four

Back in the infirmary General Hammond had arrived to talk to Captain Carter. After telling him about her daughter and her attempts to find a matching donor, the General bowed his head. He wanted to help the woman...he really did! But there was no way he could sanction two of his officers having a...a what? An affair? A one night fling in order to conceive a child? He finally had to tell her as much.

"I'm sorry, Captain Carter, I just don't see how we can help you. I'm sure Doctor Frasier has explained to you about our fraternization regulations?"

"Yes, she has," she said a sigh. "I guess this is it then. I may as well go home. Katie will be wondering why I've been gone for so long," she told them, a tear falling on her pillow as she curled up on her side. "I haven't seen my baby for almost three weeks, and I really miss her!" she sobbed.

"I'm very sorry, young lady," he told her. Then he patted her gently on the shoulder before following Dr. Frasier to her office.

Hammond still had some questions, but he knew the patient wasn't up to answering them just now, so he decided to ask Dr. Frasier what she knew about the unsettling situation.

"Doctor, did Captain Carter explain why it is that she's alone in her efforts to save her little girl?"

"Yes, she said that while several members of her SGA science team had volunteered to join her, her CO would not approve sending untrained civilians through the gate. He also claimed he is disobeying a direct order from his President just by allowing her these few trips to search for a cure for her daughter. Samantha says their President has ordered that the program be shut down as quickly as possible. When she left, they still had a few teams off world, but she has no idea what the situation is as of today.

"I see. That is unfortunate, but I don't see how we can afford to help them."

"No, Sir. I agree. General, I didn't want to bring this up in front of Captain Carter, but there are a couple of other alternatives that we could consider. I wanted to run them by you first, before I speak to Sam and Jack," Janet told him. The General looked very tired, as he finally sat down in one of the two chairs facing her desk. Janet sunk into her chair, glad to be off her feet for a bit.

"What alternatives, Doctor?"

"Well, the first one is using the Colonel as a sperm donor."

General Hammond looked at her curiously. He had heard the term before, but having been brought up two generations before her, he wasn't certain just how this new-fangled stuff worked!

"What procedures would you use?" he asked, trying to sound as knowledgeable as possible. Talking about sex, even as clinically as this, made this older man very uneasy.

"I would extract several ovum from Captain Carter and sperm from Col. O'Neill. One of the successfully fertilized eggs would then be placed inside Captain Carter...as soon as she's recovered enough from her wounds, of course. Then she could go back home, or she could remain here until she's in her second trimester, just to be on the safe side," Janet explained.

"What do you mean, by safe side?" the General asked.

"Well, if she went back and something went wrong...like say she aborted the fetus before the cells were viable, she might not be allowed to return here to try the procedure again. As I understand it, her CO told her this was the last time she could use the gate for her own personal reasons."

"Ah, yes. I understand. But you said there was more than one alternative?"

"Yes. I could use pretty much the same procedure. Only instead of taking ovum from Captain Carter, I could take it from Sam. And either she or Captain Carter could carry the fetus to term. General, the reason I even suggest that Sam do this is because I know how she feels about Col. O'Neill. I think it would hurt her a great deal to know that her other self...or whatever you want to call her...would be conceiving a child with the man she loves, even if it happened by artificial means!"

"Yes, I see your point. I also doubt very much that Major Carter would give up a child of her own, no matter who the father was."

"Yes, I think you're right."

General Hammond rose slowly from the chair. He felt beat, and he suspected she did too. "You have my permission to speak to Major Carter and Col. O'Neill about this. But it can wait until morning." Janet nodded. "If they agree, I will speak to the President. However, I don't have any idea what he'll say. This is very unorthodox, to say the least. So don't say anything about any of this to Captain Carter until we have everyone's approval," Hammond ordered.

"I won't, General. And thank you for even considering any of this."

The next morning at a few minutes before nine, Sam was waiting for Janet and Jack to arrive at her house. Janet had called and said she needed to talk to them, but she'd rather do it off base. Sam had been afraid to ask why she needed to talk to them, and now she was as nervous as a kitten, wondering if Janet had somehow found out about what they had done. And if she had, would she feel obligated to tell the General? Sam's stomach roiled at the thought of having to face a very angry and disappointed George Hammond, who had become like a second father to her.

She sat at her kitchen table, staring down into her second cup of tea, her thoughts going back to the night before. Jack had brought her home, and then she had insisted he leave. He had wanted to stay...to talk he had said. But Sam had been certain they'd wind up in bed together, and she was just not ready for that yet. She was still having a very hard time justifying what they had done in the shower, and so she had driven him away with promises to phone him. She knew he had probably been up since sunrise, just as he usually was, and she hadn't slept much herself. But she still hadn't phoned him, and then Janet had called and said he would be meeting her there.

Sam got up and put the tea kettle on, figuring that maybe Janet would drink a cup of tea. She knew Jack didn't like tea, and she didn't have any beer in the house. Her stomach tossed again, just from thinking about drinking a beer this early in the morning. She peered into her refrigerator, searching for something she could offer him. A carton of orange juice with an expired date sat on the back of the top shelf. It might still be safe to drink. She was about to take it out and taste it, when the doorbell rang.

Sam opened the front door and was not surprised to find Jack standing there, his hands behind his back. He was dressed in civvies...a long-sleeved, blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up above his elbows and the front hanging open, a white t-shirt under it, a pair of khaki shorts and brown leather sandals. His molasses eyes had a very frightened look in them, as though he was worried she might shoot him, or at the very least, tell him to get lost.

"Hi! I brought you these," Jack said, whipping out his hands toward her, much like a small boy bringing gifts to his first grade teacher. One hand held a box of chocolates, and the other a long-stemmed red rose. Sam took the gifts and stepped back to let him enter.

"Come in! Janet should be here any minute," she said nervously, as she headed toward the back of the small house. Jack closed the door and followed her, feeling equally nervous. He hadn't brought anyone flowers and candy in a long while...not since Sara...and he hoped he'd done the right thing. He stood in the middle of the large room and watched as Sam went to the cabinets and opened a door, taking out a tall vase. Then she filled it at the kitchen faucet and put the flower in it.

"I should have gotten a whole bunch. It looks kind of lonely," Jack said apologetically.

"No! It looks beautiful!" she said as she looked up at him with sparkling eyes...eyes that he could see were near to crying. He'd made her cry? That wasn't at all the emotion he was going for.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry," he said, reaching out to touch the back of her hand as it rested on the vase. A single tear had sneaked from under her lashes and fell on his hand. He lifted his other hand and wiped the moisture from her cheek, stepping around the end of the kitchen counter to get closer to her, and that was when the door bell rang. They both jumped.

"That must be Janet," Sam said, and she darted out of the room to answer it. Jack just stood there feeling awkward. What did Janet want to talk to them about? Did Sam already know? Was that why she was so upset? He turned around as both women walked into the room. Sam led them to the sofa and asked them to sit down. They did, but she remained standing, too nervous to sit still.

"Janet, would you like a cup of tea? I was just going to have some," Sam said, as she walked toward the kitchen area.

"No, thanks. I've already had too much caffeine this morning. I was up at the crack of dawn. Siler dropped that darned wrench on his foot again," she said with a chuckle.

Sam smiled and Jack shook his head, but neither of them could really concentrate on anything else but why Janet wanted to talk to them. Janet could tell they were anxious, so she decided to cut to the chase.

"Sit down, Sam. I have something very serious to talk to you about." Sam went to the chair facing the sofa and sat down, her hands clasped in her lap. She thought she knew why Janet wanted to talk to them, and the thought made her blood run cold.

TBC