Once again I have been overwhelmed by the response to this story - you guys are wonderful, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint anyone.
"You sure you don't want me to come too?" Jonah asked for the third time.
Thera grinned at him. "I would love you to come and pick things out for our baby," Thera clasped his hand in hers, "but I would really love to be able to raise our child in a house rather than this room".
Jonah knew she was right, he just had a bad feeling about letting her go. He couldn't put his finger on it – it was just an uneasy feeling in his gut and he knew if he said anything Threa would probably laugh at him and tell him the feeling probably had more to do with the amount of breafast he ate this morning. So instead of saying anything he gently held her face in his hands and kissed her thoroughly. As he pulled away he grinned at the look on her face. "Just a little something to remember me by." He teased.
Thera regained her composure and put one hand one his cheek and the other on her massive stomach. "As if I could forget you."
"I just…..well I don't know what I would do without you….I don't think I could go on without you". Jonah said quietly.
Thera looked at the man she loved, unaccustomed to him showing this kind of vulnerability. "Well I don't plan on going anywhere other than the shops with Janet so don't worry you won't have to be without me for long." Thera grinned at him trying to lighten his mood. "And pretty soon I am going to subdivide and you will have two of us with you forever."
Jonah smiled. He could hardly wait to meet their baby. He rubbed his hand over Thera's stomach. "Have fun then you two and I will see you when you get back". He leaned in and gave her one last quick kiss.
"Maybe I'll even bring you back a present."
Jonah wiggled his eyebrows. "You are the only present I want."
Thera laughed openly as she left their room calling over her shoulder, "you never know your luck flyboy".
She never saw the frown on Jonah's face.
SJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJ
"What about this one?" Janet asked holding up an adorable white baby suit embroidered with delicate little teddy bears.
Thera nodded absently. Jonah had been right, he should be here sharing in this. She had purchased a few outfits for the baby and a sling so she could carry it close to her but she had refrained from buying anything else without Jonah's input. She instinctively knew he would be happy with anything she chose but she also sensed he would enjoy selecting things for their baby.
"Sa….Thera? Are you okay?" Janet asked concerned by her friends' lack of interest in the baby clothes.
"I'm sorry." Thera turned her attention to the tiny doctor who was fast becoming a friend. "I was just thinking about how Jonah should be here. He is so excited about the baby, I feel like he would want to be here to buy its first clothes."
Not for the first time, Janet was second guessing her plan for the afternoon. A small part of her was hoping that it didn't work.
"No problems, why don't we head back to the mountain?" Janet said.
Thera smiled. "Thanks for understanding Janet."
As they headed towards the car Janet casually mentioned that she was looking after a friends' house and they had to make a quick stop to pick up the mail and water the plants. Thera was too happy to be heading back to Jonah to care about a small detour and agreed.
SJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJS
"You ready to go Ja…Jonah?" Daniel asked as he entered the VIP quarters that had been Sam and Jacks home for the last three weeks.
Jonah looked up at the man he had always known as Carlin but now insisted on being called Daniel. It was really the only thing about this place that still made Jonah feel uncomfortable, the fact that they had managed to convince Carlin that he was someone else so easily.
"Yeah – good to go."
Daniel drove them to Jack's house and used his spare key to let them inside. Jonah looked around and easily imagined himself living here with Thera. It was like a dream come true, the woman he loved more than life itself, a house like this and a baby due in a couple of weeks – what more could a man ask for? It was hard to believe that a few short weeks ago he and Thera were living as slaves in a cavern below the surface of an ice planet.
As he walked into the lounge area he caught sight of a photo of a young boy on the wall. At first he only glanced at it but something made him turn back and look more closely.
"Charlie." He whispered. Daniel and Teal'c looked at him, startled that Janet's plan was working so quickly. Jonah didn't know how he knew the boy's name but something inside him said this child was important.
Jonah removed the photo from the wall and continued to stare at it. The other two men in the room waited, letting the memories begin to unfold in their friend. Jonah looked around the room and then back at the photo. He knew this child, he just wasn't sure how it was possible for him to so definitely know the face of a child in some strangers house on a different planet. It was like a memory just out of reach, taunting him to embrace it. Jonah wanted to remember but something held him back, something important.
Jonah looked at the eyes of the child and recognised them as the same eyes that stared back at him each morning when he looked in the mirror. He looked at the other photos on the wall and saw a woman with the same child and standing behind them looked to be a younger version of himself.
Jack felt his knees give way and his large form collapsed on the sofa. "Dear God. What have I done?" Jack buried his head in his hands and felt the memories flood through his brain. Sara, Charlie, Black ops, the shooting, Abydos, it all came back. "Sam." He whispered her name.
Daniel and Teal'c stood and watched their friends heart literally break and knew this was not something Jack would want anyone to witness, they quietly left the house and went to wait in the car until he was ready to go back to the mountain.
Inside the house, the usually emotionally reserved Jack O'Neill cried. He cried for the son he had lost five years ago and he cried for the child Jonah and Thera created because he now knew he was not Jonah, former slave and partner of Thera, but Jack O'Neill, Colonel and Commanding Officer of Samantha Carter and he had no idea how to reconcile Jonah and Jack to make any part of this situation acceptable.
