On a role folks ... Your reviews are making me write! Thanks to: USNeshama, Tamolino, fanka77, Alimoo1971, alicesandra, Applies 26, Schatze8210,houghtam, samoneill01,TamaraJagellovsk, vcm, Smiffy11052, froggy0319, ad694, dom77, ASpecialKindOf, Jacqueline Roget, kahuna, Emmy1512,awishaway and Yol and of course to "guests" who didn't sign in but who sent a review. They may a real difference!

"So, what are you going to do Jack?" Daniel asked.

Jack stopped, his mouth open and the spoon suspended in mid-air. He looked down at it and back up at Daniel. "Uh, I'm going to eat it?" he said.

"What?" Daniel frowned, looking confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You asked me what I was going to do," he said, lifting the spoon and showing it to the man opposite him. "I'm going to eat it."

"Jack! I'm not talking about your jello -"

"It's pudding," the Colonel replied, putting the spoon in his mouth and licking it with obvious enjoyment.

"I don't care what it is. I want to know what you're going to do now."

Jack sighed and set down the spoon and pushed the bowl of pudding away from him. He didn't really need it anyway. "Daniel, you're going to have to be a bit more specific."

"About Sam," his friend snapped, sounding thoroughly exasperated.

"About – what about her?" Jack frowned, seriously contemplating the pudding again.

"What are you going to do about her?"

"Do? Nothing. What should I do? Carter is perfectly capable. In fact she has some kind of experiment going. Something about which I know little, and care even less." Yes, the pudding was definitely calling out to him.

Daniel sighed and then looked up hopefully as he saw another member of their team approach. "Teal'c ! Thank God."

"For what reason do you thank your deity, Daniel Jackson," the Jaffa said as he laid his tray down on the table and sat beside the younger man.

"Maybe you can talk some sense into Jack!"

Teal'c turned and regarded his commander closely – the commander who was gazing in longing at the chocolate pudding in front of him. Teal'c then turned back and picked up his own fork. "I do not believe that is possible Daniel Jackson." With that he took a big bite of chicken potpie.

"Aaargh! Don't either of you care?"

Jack frowned and lifted his eyes. "Of course we care Daniel. Uh – about what?"

"About SAM!" Jackson practically shouted. "She's pregnant with your child and you don't seem to even care."

"Daniel! Keep your voice down," the Colonel quickly perused the room to see if anyone overheard the very loud archaeologist. When it seemed that no one had noticed he relaxed. "You don't have to announce it to the whole world," he said calmly.

"I wasn't trying to. What I was trying to do was to find out what you are planning on doing."

"I kind of got that Daniel," the Colonel replied.

"Well?"

"Well?" He regarded the apparently ready to burst man opposite him and finally decided to give the poor guy a break – sort of. "That's my business, mine and Carter's," he answered. With a curse he grabbed the pudding and pulled it towards himself.

"Are you sure you should have that O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, as he shoveled a load of mashed potatoes and gravy onto the biscuit in his hand.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"It is heavily laden with unbeneficial calories, and you are no longer a young man," the big guy answered around the food in his mouth. "And you are soon to be a father. Do you not want to remain alive and healthy for your child?"

He dropped the spoon and leaned his head on his hand. Well wasn't that a downer. "Yeah, of course, although I don't think one bowl of pudding is going to kill me."

"You have to start sometime O'Neill," Teal'c replied, putting a handful of French fries and ketchup in his mouth.

"You two are unbelievable," Daniel huffed. "Our comrade, our teammate, our friend, is going to have a baby and neither of you care."

"Of course I care, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c answered solemnly. "It was for that very reason that I warned O'Neill not to eat the pudding."

Daniel dropped his head to the table and gently banged it repeatedly.

Jack's eyebrow went up and he looked at Teal'c. With a shrug he stood up. "I have no idea," he told the Jaffa. "See you guys later. I have to go see Carter."

He chortled as he walked down the hall, remembering poor Daniel's expression. He couldn't fault the man's caring nature, although at times he really did wish he would butt out of his affairs. The fact was, he had no idea what he was going to do about Sam.

He knew what he wanted to do, but that was clearly out of the question. He smirked – although it had afforded him a few fun fantasies. No, he was getting old and Sam needed a young, brilliant man – wait – no brilliant young handsome guy was going to be father to his child!

He frowned and stopped suddenly, causing the poor Airman behind him to plow into him.

"Oh – I'm sorry Sir, Colonel," the young man gasped. "I didn't -"

"Next time watch where you're going Airman," Jack scowled. He watched as the poor guy scurried away and felt a moment's pang of guilt. But it left quickly. He had more serious things on his mind than the sensibilities of a young Airmen. And anyway, it would toughen him up!

He had to think about what he was going to do about the woman who was pregnant with his child. The woman he fantasized about on a regular basis. The woman who made him laugh, who challenged him, who supported him and who made him hor-

"Ooph! What the – oh, sorry Lieutenant," he gave the young nurse a smile and stepped back. She had been hurrying down the hall with a load of – something – and he'd again stopped, causing a collision.

"Uh – that's okay Sir," she replied breathlessly. "It was my fault."

"No it wasn't," he told her. "Need some help?"

"Uh – no – thank you – but – no, that's fine Sir – I mean unless – no, I'm okay," she smiled and scurried off, clearly nervous to be around him.

He sighed and leaned against the wall. He remembered the day when young, pretty nurses flirted with him. Now they were scared of him and treated him like their father. He started to feel depressed.

"What's wrong Colonel?"

He lifted his head – well okay, he didn't really have to lift it – and saw Janet Fraiser standing in front of him. He sighed. She probably wanted to stick him in the butt with another needle. "Nothing," he said morosely.

She smiled and took his arm. "Come in and have a cup of coffee. I need to get off of my feet for a few minutes so you can join me."

He followed her into her office and plunked himself in the chair by her desk. First he looked around carefully to make sure there were no –

"No needles Sir, don't worry," she laughed.

He gave her a tepid grin. "Just makin' sure Doc," he said. "I don't want to be a fly to your spider!"

She laughed again and poured him a coffee from the machine she kept ready in her office. There were many times when she didn't have a second to make it to the commissary and caffeine was a necessity.

She sat down facing the Colonel. "So tell me, what's wrong? You're feeling okay, aren't you?"

"Yeah, the bug bites have all cleared up."

"Good. So what has you looking so – down."

"Teal'c wouldn't let me eat my pudding," he told her grumpily. "And Lieutenant – what's her name? The little red-head?"

"Harris?"

"Yeah, that's the one. She thinks of me like a father."

"Uh – okay," Janet frowned. "Look, I'm sure that Teal'c doesn't mind if you eat pudding. I – you probably misunderstood."

"No I didn't," he answered, looking down. "He said I'm old and it'll kill me."

Janet suddenly looked as if she was beginning to understand. "I – see. And Lieutenant Harris?"

Jack sighed and glanced up and then back down. "I'm sure she's nice – it's just that – nurses used to – used to flirt with me Janet. Now they treat me like their grandfather!"

"I thought you said she thought of you like a father?"

"Same difference," he sighed. "I'm old Janet."

"You are not old Sir," she said briskly. "You are certainly more mature than a lot of the folks here, but since most of them barely stopped wearing diapers that doesn't mean anything. And as for Lieutenant Harris, I'm afraid you're wrong Colonel."

"Wrong?" this time he did look up, a frown on his face.

"She doesn't think of you as a father figure. Hell Sir – my nurses are all in love with you – or with Daniel, although I think they think you're more interesting. He brings out more of their – mothering instinct while you -" she stopped suddenly, practically swallowing her tongue.

He looked at her suspiciously. "While I what?"

"Uh, nothing."

"Janet?"

She sighed. "Okay fine! They all think you're terribly sexy and I've heard more than one of them wondering what you'd be like -"

"What I'd be like - ?" he said, his eyebrows both raised.

"In bed Sir, in bed."

"Oh." Well that stopped him cold, although he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit – a smidgeon really – just a tad – well okay, maybe a lot proud of himself. Yes, he still had the old O'Neill sex-appeal. "You're sure?" he asked abruptly, wondering if Janet was just trying to appease him.

"Oh yeah Sir, I'm sure," she said with a role of her eyes. "They vie to – uh – I shouldn't be telling you this Colonel."

"Sure you should Janet, " he said with a gleam. "For what do they vie?"

"Uh, to do your physical," she told him, laughing when she saw the red creeping up his neck.

"They're young enough to be my daughters Janet," he said at that, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. That made Janet laugh.

"Sir, you were just complaining a moment ago that they thought of you like a father and you didn't like that!"

"Well – that's different," he told her, although he had no idea why. Instead he let out a long slow breath and took a sip of coffee.

"So, what else is bothering you, besides pudding and my nurses?"

"Well – it's really – I don't think I should -"

"It's Sam, isn't it?" she asked gently.

He swiftly raised his eyes to look at her – surprised at the understanding and gentleness he saw. Janet could be scary where her friends were concerned and he knew that she and Sam were close. But right now she appeared to be concerned solely for him.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I don't know what to do."

She nodded. "It must be hard. Have you talked to her?"

"Yeah – I mean – sort of. I've told her I'll be there for her and that I want to be part of my – our – the child's life. Other than that we haven't really talked about anything. I mean, there's time."

"Mmm," she hummed, simply looking at him.

"What does that mean?" he scowled.

"Uh – nothing. If you think you have lots of time then why are you worried?"

"Because – oh hell, I don't know," he ran his finger through his hair, his default gesture when he was stressed.

"Are you happy about the child Colonel?"

"Happy? I mean – I guess. I don't know. I never really thought – Janet, I'm too old to have a kid again. Hell, I'm going to be in the old folks home by the time the kid is in high school!"

She laughed – but then looked as if she forced herself to stop when she saw the Colonel's hurt expression. She reached out and touched his leg. "You will not be old Sir. You're extremely healthy – you know that I told you that Thor and the Sarcophagus have both ensured that you're physically younger than your years. And your brain – " she stopped and bit her lip.

"My brain?" he looked at her out of narrowed eyes.

She laughed again. "Your brain is just fine! You're very smart and we all know it Colonel – even though you do sometimes pretend to be otherwise."

He sighed and leaned forward. "Busted," he muttered.

"I really wouldn't worry Colonel. You'll do just fine. This child is lucky to have you as its father and I know Sam is happy."

"She is?"

"Of course. I thought she told you?"

"She did," he sighed. "But maybe she had to say that."

"Oh, I doubt that Sir. Look, I understand you're feeling scared. This is a big responsibility and it's a strange situation. But both of you care for one another and you're also both smart people. You'll figure it out. I do suggest you talk to her though. She's the best one to help you."

"I did talk to her," he said. "But that was before she slept over."

There was silence in the room and it took him a second to replay what he'd said. Then – "oh damn! You didn't hear that Doc."

"Uh – o – kay," she said. "Sir, what did you do?"

"Nothing! I did nothing. It was the day she took me home from the Infirmary. She stayed to make sure I was okay and then I was worried about her driving home – alone – at night," he grimaced, realizing how stupid that sounded. "Okay fine! I wanted her to stay because I was feeling lonely! And she stayed in the guest room. We didn't do anything!"

Janet was fiercely biting her lip as she listened to the Colonel. She wondered if he had any idea – any idea at all – of how bad he had it for Major Carter. "I'm sure you didn't Sir," she said calmly. "I won't say anything, don't worry – although I do think you need to talk – some more," she clarified. "Things are changing rapidly and you need to be making some – decisions."

"Yeah, decisions." He stood up slowly and put his cup down. "Thanks Janet. I appreciate the – coffee."

"Anytime Sir," she smiled and stood. She then leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Everything will be fine. Just be honest with Sam and tell her – how you feel – I mean, how you're feeling. She'll understand."

"Yeah." He sighed and walked to the door. Before he left his eyes lifted to hers. "This emotion and talking stuff – it's hard you know."

"I know Sir," she said gently. "But you're doing just fine." She watched as he left her office and shook her head. "You're a keeper Colonel. Sam is one lucky woman!"

Sam, the lucky woman, was staring at the alien contraption in front of her. She knew what it did – or what it was supposed to do – and it was something that could revolutionize their own technology. If she could get it to work they could increase power efficiency by up to 50% - creating a huge savings for the program. She knew all of these things – and she didn't care!

"Aargh!" she cried, wanting to throw the damn thing across the room. She put her hand on her belly, where there was now a small bump. "Sorry sprout," she said softly. "Ignore your Mommy. She's in a bad mood."

"Who's in a bad mood?"

Sam whipped her head up – startled at the sudden appearance of the Colonel. "Uh – hi Sir. What are you doing here?"

"Not happy to see me?" he gave a half-grin. "I'll leave you to your technology then -"

"God no! Please – I'm thrilled to see you and you can save me from this – from this thing!" She pushed it away.

"Uh – okay Carter." He frowned. "You alright?"

"Yes Sir," she sighed.

"But you're the one in the bad mood, right?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. I just can't seem to get into my work today. I don't know what's wrong. I mean, this is an amazing discovery," she indicated the strange looking object on the counter. "It could change the way we run the Gate – and today I just want to throw it in the trash!"

"Mmm – that's usually the way I feel about most alien technology – except the big guns of course," he grinned. "Those are kind of cool. But I wouldn't suggest you throw it away. George might not like it."

"No, I don't suppose he would," she choked back a laugh. "I told you, it's me Sir. I just – I don't know what's wrong."

"Feeling kind of antsy?"

"Yes, exactly."

"And slightly depressed?"

"Mmm hmm. Although there's no reason to be."

"And kind of like you want to crawl out of your skin?" he continued, ignoring her words.

"Yes, that's how I'm feeling," she squinted at him, wondering where this was coming from. "Uh – how do you -"

"Kind of feeling that way myself," he explained. "I think we need another pizza night," he told her.

Her eyebrows went up at that, although he was also pretty sure he saw the beginnings of a smile. "A pizza night?"

"Yup. Guaranteed to calm the nerves and brighten the spirits!"

"And – are Teal'c and Daniel coming too?" she asked.

His face fell slightly. "If you want them to," he told her.

"NO. I mean – that's okay. I'm sure they're busy. In fact I'm pretty sure I heard Daniel say he had translating to do, lots of translating."

"Yes – I remember that as well. It was very important translating too. And I think Teal'c was doing some important – uh – Kelnoreeming."

"And you know how important that is."

"It is," he nodded in agreement. "He gets very crabby if he doesn't do it enough."

"Mmm – so it looks like I'm the only one not doing – important stuff," she said, avoiding looking at the alien object."

"Good – that's good Carter. So – pizza night?"

"That would be nice Colonel – if you're sure?"

"Oh yeah – yeah, I'm – of course."

"Can I bring something?"

"Just your - maybe a – salad or something?"

She looked surprised. "I didn't know you liked salad Colonel."

"Well, I am trying to be healthy," he explained. "Gotta stay fit for - " he pointed to her stomach.

It took a moment for Sam to realize what he was talking about. For a moment she'd thought – and then felt herself color. "Of course. I'll bring a salad."

"Good – good. So you'll come over at about -?"

"Seven? Or how about six?" she said, when she saw his face fall."

"Sure, six is good." He turned and headed to the door. "See ya later Carter."

"Yes Sir," she smiled and then looked enquiringly at him when he stopped. "Colonel?"

"Uh – maybe we shouldn't say anything to Daniel or Teal'c. I wouldn't want them to – uh"

"Get distracted from their very important work?"

"Exactly Major," he grinned, gave her a sloppy salute, and left.

Sam turned around, a big smile on her face. After a second she noticed the alien object. Her eyes focused on it and she pulled it towards her. "Now, how the hell do you work?"

Jack whistled all the way to the Commissary. He figured it was time for a snack.