A/N: I'm back! I had to copy and paste and reedit most of the chapter, but it's here! Thank you for your continued patience!
And on with the show!
When Jack O'Neill finally stepped off the elevator on Level 19, he wasn't surprised that Carter almost came crashing around the corner.
"Oh, thank God, sir," she murmured hastily as she began to grab for the brown to-go bag.
His eyes widened as she nearly ripped it away from him. "Did you have one of the guards tell you when I got here, or did you smell it all the way from your office?"
"I may have told Lieutenant Gregg that I was to be notified when the commanding officer, who is two hours late, arrived on base." Carter shot him a glare. "With all due respect, sir, you still owe me."
"When this is all over, Carter, you can take a vacation for as long as you like. Scout's honor," he promised, holding three fingers up in salute.
As he followed her back to her lab, he sighed quietly to himself. Her belly had finally reached the point where baggy clothes weren't cutting it anymore. He guessed that arriving here so early allowed her enough time to swap out her standard issue fatigues for maternity style.
The crap was definitely hitting the fan soon.
"How you feeling?"
She shrugged, setting the bag on the counter as soon as they entered her office. "As good as an alien-impregnated woman can be, sir."
"Anything I can do?"
She turned and threw him a confused glance, then shook her head. "Honestly, you've done so much for me already, sir. I can't think of anything else that I feel right asking of you."
Jack nodded uncomfortably. This was usually the point in the conversation when he started acting more like a worried father than a considerate commanding officer, and he noticed how her shoulders tensed up, as if she were preparing to be hit in the back.
And he hated that he was the one making her feel that way.
"All right, then. You know where to find me if you need anything."
"Yes, sir. And thanks again for breakfast."
"Yeah, sure, ya betcha," he grumbled to himself as he left.
The instant that the general left her office, Sam put down the plastic fork and picked up her phone. Dialing the extension by heart, she waited until she heard the other line click. "This is Frasier."
"He's doing it again."
"Who, General O'Neill?"
"Yeah, he's doing that massively overprotective father-to-be thing. And it's driving me nuts."
"So just tell him that he's being a little too intrusive right now."
"I can't, Janet. Every time he's around right now, he's just so caring that it makes me want to cry. And I can't risk that because I might not stop."
"Sam, the flux of emotions during pregnancy is normal. And it's even more intense in your case due to the rapid development of the fetus." Janet sighed on the other end. "Do you want me to talk with him?"
"No, it's okay. I'll be fine." She glanced down at her breakfast that was going cold, then sighed. "I'm actually in the middle of a project here, so I should probably go."
"All right. Let me know if you have any other problems."
"Will do."
About fifteen minutes later, the Styrofoam to-go box was in the garbage can and Carter was skimming through the reports that the SG teams had brought back from 482 when someone knocked on the open door. "Hey, Sam," Daniel greeted, sticking his head in the door.
"Daniel, hi. Come on in." Her eyes left the screen just long enough to see him. "What brings you down this way?"
"Oh, nothing spectacular," he replied, tucking his hands in his pockets. "I was just in the area and I thought I'd see if you needed help with anything."
And so it begins, Sam grumbled to herself.
She sat back from the monitor and sighed. "Like what, for instance?" Pointing sternly at the computer screen, she suggested, "Maybe you can analyze the mineral content levels for the third time today. Or maybe you want to give me a foot massage. Or possibly, and this is just an insane idea, you could work with Janet and figure out exactly what the—"
"Sam!" Daniel snapped, a little harder than he probably meant to.
It jerked Sam out of her rant. Her eyes closed slowly, and she pinched the bridge of her nose before slumping back in the chair. "Daniel, I'm sorry. I've just had a bad day."
He checked his watch before giving her a slightly sarcastic smile. "It's almost lunchtime."
She groaned, bringing her hands to cover her face. "I'm moody, biting, starving even though I just polished off a dinner from Cracker Barrel." Catching Daniel's raised eyebrow, she explained, "General O'Neill brought me breakfast since I covered for him in a briefing today."
Daniel shrugged, nodding his head. "It's the least he could do, considering his genetic material knocked you up."
Sam glared at the archeologist over the computer screen. "Too soon."
"I regretted it the instant I said it."
"Good." She turned her attention back to the computer, thinking that Daniel's conversation was done, but he walked a step towards her and put his hand on her shoulder. Releasing a sigh, she leaned back.
"Sam, you know we all love you. And we're trying to be here for you. We just don't know the best way to do that yet."
"I know," she replied softly. Patting his hand, she nodded. "This is new for me too."
"Well, hopefully the next time that this happens, you have a little bit more notice than three or four weeks, huh?"
Sam smiled, then let out a mirthless chuckle. "We'll see."
A/N: Thank you again for your patience! More will be posted this coming week!
