Chapter ten

While Jack drank his beer, Sam had a glass of skim milk. And gradually, as he talked about his progress on the nursery, they both began to relax a little. But his eyes still drifted down to her breasts from time to time, when they weren't examining her face or staring at her eyes. Meanwhile Sam allowed herself to really look at him for the first time since their initial encounter….not like a subordinate looks at her CO, but like a woman looks at a man.

Jack was taller than most men she knew. He was very fit for a man his age, except for one bum knee that bothered him from time to time. His skin was always tan, which made him look like he spent all his time outside, even when he was hundreds of feet underground most days. His eyes, which were actually dark brown, often looked black, especially when he was in a serious mood. And the clefts in his face gave him a rugged sort of devil-may-care look that she found quite disconcerting. It seemed like his face was taunting her, daring her to stare at him, and so she did.

And then there was his hair which was shot with silver, standing up on the top of his head as it always did. It looked unintentionally messy, but she knew now that it was a part of his plan and that he liked it that way. Suddenly she wondered if some woman had told him that a 'bed head' was sexy, which in his case it most certainly was. She lowered her eyes when he caught her looking at his hair. Then, as though magnetically drawn to his face, she lifted her eyes and continued to examine it…the five o'clock shadow he always seemed to have, the shape of his lips, the little scar in the lower center of his chin. She looked at it all, and then she looked some more.

When she'd first met him she'd had to train herself not to look at him so closely, but now she could look to her heart's content! They were no longer CO and subordinate, so Sam looked and looked, till his words just became a sound, droning on and on. And while he talked, Sam decided she really liked the man she was seeing. He was much more than a military officer or a friend. He was as sexy as hell!

"The reason I picked yellow for the walls is that way the room will be good for either a boy or a girl," he explained. He'd been going on and on about the stuff he was doing to the baby's room, and suddenly he wondered if he'd been talking too much? He thought she seemed to be zoning out. "You don't mind that I chose the color, do you? Sam, do you mind that I chose the paint color without asking you?"

"No, of course not! I can find out which sex the baby is, if you'd like to know sooner?" Sam offered, her eyes wide with worry. He was looking at her like he was concerned about something. Had she missed something important?

"No, actually I prefer not knowing." He thought she looked sort of frightened and very young, like a teenager. And that thought made Jack feel very old. He suddenly wondered if he was being selfish, wanting a child at his age?

"Sir, do you care which sex the baby is?" she asked, laying a hand on her small belly bump. The child's sex was something they had not talked about, and it suddenly occurred to her that he might like to have another son.

"No, not really. Didn't care the last time either. After Charlie was born, Sara wanted to try for a girl, but I wasn't home much, and…well, you know how that ended."

"Do you ever see her?" He never mentioned his ex-wife. In fact, since he'd told her about himself before she agreed to become pregnant, he hadn't talked about himself at all. So the rest of what she knew about him had come from Daniel….and of course Janet who was happy to remind her on a weekly basis just what a good catch he would be, and how well-endowed he was.

"Naw, not anymore. After that crystal alien thing, she called and said she was moving to California with her Dad. They were from Sacramento, so I guess they went back there."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Sara and I were never right for each other anyway. We probably wouldn't have gotten married, if she hadn't gotten pregnant."

Sam was surprised to learn this. Now she had another fact to put in her Jack O'Neill file!

"Well, I guess I should be going," he said suddenly as he stood up. Jack set the empty beer bottle on the kitchen counter, while Sam followed him.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing." He thought it best not to overstay his welcome. He was feeling drawn to her, but he figured it was only natural since she was carrying his child inside her.

"I'm feeling much better now. Thank you. Now all I have to do is keep from eating too much," she said with a chuckle.

"You? No way, Carter." As far as he knew she had always been a really light eater, and he couldn't imagine her ever weighing too much.

"I've gained ten pounds already," she said, making a face.

"Nah. Really?" He thought she looked great…a little thicker through the middle maybe, but it certainly didn't detract from how beautiful she was. Which reminded him that he really hoped the baby looked like her and not him.

"I have! See!" Sam smoothed her loose blouse down over her belly, and they both looked down at her slightly expanded waistline.

"Doesn't look like much to me." Impetuously he put his hand on the slightly rounded area.

"Oh!" Just as he touched her, Sam felt a little gurgling sensation in her belly, directly under his hand. She had never felt anything like it before, and the feeling startled her.

"Did you feel that?" she asked in an awed voice. Instinctively she placed her hand over top of Jack's and held it there.

"I sure did!"

"They held their hands still, hoping to feel the baby move again. When it did, Jack smiled at Sam's bug-eyed expression.

"That's our baby in there, Carter." Jack looked down at their joined hands and smiled. "Either that or the dinner you ate last night didn't agree with you," he added, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, you!" she replied, smiling back at him. But just then Sam looked down, suddenly aware of the fact that she had wrapped her fingers around his. Embarrassed, she quickly let go.

Jack sensed her discomfort, but he wasn't sure what it meant. He just knew that sharing this moment with her had been wonderful. It had brought back some good memories of his time with Sara and Charlie, memories that he'd thought were gone.

After he left Sam's house, Jack kept thinking about what had happened when they'd felt the baby move. A big part of him wished he had used the incident to show her just how appreciative he really was. What she was doing for him, giving him a child, was the most unselfish, beautiful thing anyone had ever done for him, and he really appreciated it. But he knew she would never accept money from him, so what other way could he show her how grateful he was?

One way came to mind, but he had a feeling Sam wouldn't agree. She obviously needed to relieve some pent up sexual frustration, and he was definitely tired of the relationship he had with his right hand. They were no longer in the same chain of command, and they were both consenting adults with sexual needs. If they could agree to work together to give him a child, then why couldn't they work together to satisfy their need for sex?

To Jack, his rationalization made perfect sense. But he was too afraid of ruining their friendship, so he decided to just be there for her as much as she would let him. And if being around her led to more than just friendship, then that would be great! If it didn't, then he'd just have to live with it.

Meanwhile at Sam's house….

Sam was wondering if her raging hormones were affecting how she felt about the colonel? If they were, and she acted on her lustful urges, she could ruin their friendship for nothing more than a one night stand! So she decided to keep her feelings in check when he was around. "No more staring at Jack like he's a slice of chocolate cake!" Actually, he was more like the whole cake!

Just then she thought she felt the baby move again.

"Hey, there! Mommy is gonna take really good care of you while you're in there," she said, gently rubbing her belly. "And then after you're born, your Daddy will take care of you. He's a really great guy, and he loves you a lot. You're one very lucky baby," she said aloud. Suddenly she realized she wished Jack wanted her as much as he wanted the baby.

"God, what kind of a person am I!" she cried, her voice cracking as she began to cry. There was no excuse for her! She was a horrible person! She was crying because she was jealous of her own baby!

A few minutes later Sam was blowing her nose when the telephone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Carter, it's me. I was just wondering if I could come over tomorrow and fix that drippy faucet in the kitchen?"

"Sure!" Sam sat up straight, surprised and pleased to hear the colonel's voice again so soon.

"Great! I'll see you around ten, okay?"

"Yes, ten is fine. Unless you want to come earlier? I could fix us breakfast?" she suggested boldly.

"Breakfast would be nice."

"Eight o'clock?"

"I'll be there! Good-night, Carter."

"Good-night, Sir." Sam smiled, feeling a lot better about her situation. She might be complicating her life even more, but somehow it didn't matter as long as she could have Jack in it. As for what happened after the baby came, she'd just have to deal with it.

TBC