'Morning Sam. How have you been?' O'Neill walked into the infirmary, his usual jaunty self, dressed in jeans and tshirt.

The blonde glanced up, she was sitting on the infirmary bed, legs swinging over the edge, waiting for her lift. She had a pair of joggers on, a tshirt and a pair of old sneakers resting on a bag slung by the bed. Daniel had been in earlier and packed up a few things for her to take home, including her laptop. She might have to spend a fair amount of time taking it easy, but it would give her leisure to go over the accelerator plans properly and start drafting her report.

Part of her was looking forward to it.

She looked past the Colonel, wondering if Daniel were following on behind him. O'Neill stopped, turned, looked behind him and back to her with a puzzled frown. 'Hel-lo?' he queried, waving one hand in front of her face.

'Sorry, sir. I thought Daniel was going to give me a lift home.'

'Ah yes, change of plans. I'm taking you home. I have all doc's orders and we'll stop by the store on the way, get some supplies. I've been told take-out pizza every night isn't an acceptable diet plan,' he added, looked a little disconcerted by that concept.

Sam grinned, she couldn't help it. 'No, sir, it's not.'

'Uh, uh, uh. Jack, Sam, don't forget. You'll get some strange looks if we wander round the store and you keep calling me, sir. You ready to go?'

Not with you, but I guess I don't get a choice. She could've said no, called a cab, but then he'd wonder what was up, and she wasn't prepared to talk about it. Nearly. But not quite. 'Sure.'

She pulled on her sneakers, and eased off the bed. He watched with a slight frown, clearing before she looked his way and caught her bag up in one hand before she could lift it. It was tempting to argue, but she had made a promise and she was determined to keep it, so she kept quiet and they made their way to the surface in silence.

A handful of shoppers bustled around the store, and O'Neill could see that Sam was already tired before they made it halfway round. She had gone straight for the microwave meals and the tinned soup, and the Colonel watched with a raised eyebrow until she turned to him in exasperation. 'What?'

'Sam, take-out pizza's better than that stuff. C'mon,' he led her away, heading for the fresh fruits and vegetables, before picking up chicken, beef and a variety of juices. 'Sir, I'm not feeding an army!'

'A lot of this'll keep Sam, you've got a fridge, right?'

'Yeah.'

'Well, you need to stay off your feet so you won't be shopping for a few days at least, not without help.'

'But I-'

'-don't cook. Yeah, I know.'

'You know?'

'Actually we know. Remember that time you tried to cook jambalaya for the team?'

'You guys said you liked it.'

'It sucked Sam, you're a terrible cook. But that's okay, because you can build particle accelerators and I'm a diva in the kitchen.'

'So, you're planning on cooking for me?'

'When Daniel's not, yeah. He's almost as good as me. T'ealc can't cook, he tends to throw meat in fire and call it done,' she opened her mouth to object but Jack waved a finger at her, 'uh-uh. Doc's orders. Janet'll skin my hide if I left you to fend for yourself, and I'd finish the job for her.' Sam didn't say anymore, leaving him to pick out the rest of the shopping. It wasn't like SG-1 hadn't done this for each other before. They took a shortcut down the baby aisle, cutting across the store to the checkouts and Sam glanced around at the wide array of products, with several varieties of each type available.

Kids were born with a manual, right? Hell, she had engineered Earth's 'Gate dialling system and built a particle accelerator, and Janet managed with Cassie. Most of these products had age ranges on, weights and things. As long as she knew that, she should be fine. She looked round at the Colonel, heading up the aisle, his back to her. He had done this all before, but the thought of reminding him of Charlie, of what he'd had, and lost, wasn't a pleasant one.

Nor was the idea of telling him in the first place. Even discounting what it would do to him, she wasn't sure how the hell she was going to handle it. 'Sam?' He looked round, wondering where she was and found herself half a dozen paces behind, 'tired?' he asked, assuming that was the reason she had lagged behind. 'C'mon,' he grabbed her hand, pulled her close and slid an arm around her waist, giving her the option of leaning on him. 'We're nearly done.'

She almost pulled away, but he was partly right, she was shattered, and she took advantage, leaning into him and letting him take the burden for a few moments until they reached the checkout. He let her go, packing the groceries and paying for them whilst she leaned against the counter and considered the likliehood of getting to sit on the floor right under her feet for twenty minutes or so before she had to move again.

But the effort of having to get back up seemed too great. She abandoned the idea and followed him out to the car.

At leat he'd be gone soon, and she'd be alone, on her own territory and could think things through. For now, she simply took his help for what she assumed it was, one team-mate helping another, it wasn't the first time they'd helped each other recuperate and it probably wouldn't be the last.

Unless she never went offworld again. The thought startled her and a wave of dismay washed over her at the prospect. On the other hand, losing her mother had been hard on the young Sam Carter- she wasn't sure was willing to risk putting her own child through that.

So many variables to consider. She felt tired just thinking about it.

At her house, he made her sit, going through to the kitchen to unpack. Sam curled up on the chair, flicked through until she hit a nature channel, where primates sat in a lake of hot water, warming themselves and their offspring through the long winter months. The presenter's voice was a soothing, familiar babble and she let it wash over her, not realising she had fallen asleep until O'Neil woke her up.

'Hey, Sam?'

'Hmmm, yeah?' She sat up, stretched and he nudged the tray he'd placed on the table a little closer. It held a bowl of hot soup, some toast and a glass of juice.

'Eat up,' he said, dumping a pile of mail next to it, and sitting on the sofa beside her. He had a plate piled with sandwiches and the distinct smell of bacon rose from it. 'There's a chicken roasting in the oven, it'll take a few hours, but this should take the edge off.' It did. Sam hadn't realised how hungry she was, and Jack raised an eyebrow as she carefully cleaned off everything he'd given her before picking out a couple of physics journals from her pile of mail and started flicking through. 'You really were hungry, first time I think food has ever come before work with you.'

'I was starving,' Sam admitted, sinking back in the chair with a contented sigh. 'Thanks.'

'Welcome,' he paused, looking as if he were about to same something, but changed his mind. 'Coffee?'

She nodded, and he collected the plates, heading towards the kitchen before she stopped him. 'No. Uh, no, no coffee. Could I have another juice?'

He looked puzzled, but he nodded, 'yeah, sure.'

Returning a little while later, he slid a glass and a coffee mug onto the low table, reclaiming his old seat. 'Sam?'

'Hmm?' her eyes still on the journal.

'Do you regret what happened between us?'

She was still looking at the journal, but no longer reading. Slowly she closed it, shifting around in the seat to face him, tucking her legs under her. 'Do you?'she asked carefully. She could have deflected him, claimed she was too tired to talk, but he knew her better than that. Deflection would have led to questions.

'No.' The reply was sure and swift, as if it had never even been a question in his mind. 'You?'

'Not until I saw you with Laira.'

Jack winced, he should've seen that one coming. 'I deserved that,' he replied calmly. 'But I meant what I said, Sam, I wanted to come home. I want to be here. Nothing happened between me and Laira.'

'But it would have.'

'Maybe. Eventually. But she's not you Sam, and Edora isn't Earth. My life isn't there, just a life I was prepare to accept as the short end of the stick. I could explain it more if I really understood myself.' She nodded, seeming to understand, or perhaps she didn't. Either way, she accepted that he could barely explain to himself, let alone to her. 'So,' he went on, 'do you?'

'Regret it? No. Especially not now.'

He shook his head slightly, 'I don't get it. What d'you mean?'

Sam took a breath, bit her lip and eyed him with a nervousness he rarely saw. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. For her part, Sam wasn't sure she was prepared to answer that question, but no matter what had happened between them, he still had the right to know- he was a good man with kids, he'd probably been a great father, and he would help her, she knew that with unshakeable certainty. He would help her through this, and she wouldn't have to do it alone, even if nothing ever happened between them again.

'I'm pregnant, Jack,' she let out the breath she'd been holding, nodding slightly to herself, 'I'm pregnant.'