"...confirmed rumors that he has asked retired Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill to serve on the Presidential Cabinet as Secretary of Defense. Little is known about the illustrious General, who won the Air medal approximately thirteen years ago for his supposed work in deep-space radar telemetry..." The radio blared as it woke the subject of the newscast and his wife.

"Turn it off," Jack groaned as he buried his head beneath his pillow in an effort to eradicate thoughts of his potential appointment to the President's cabinet.

Sam sighed as she rolled over and turned the radio off. "We're not going to be able to ignore it forever," she murmured, looking back at him.

"We can try, can't we?" he muttered stubbornly.

She chuckled softly as she poked her head beneath the pillow and kissed him gently. "If you didn't try, you wouldn't be the man I married," she teased.

"Ha ha." He grumbled as he rolled over in an attempt to continue to ignore the morning's call to alertness.

"Jack, if you want this over, just tell Marks that you don't want to do the job," she said, sitting up in bed.

He sighed. "I wish it was that easy."

"You're right," she groaned, resting the back of her head against the headboard as she felt her usual morning dizzy spell coming on. "That would just raise more questions for those damn reporters outside."

"Exactly." He said, looking up at her for a moment. "You okay?"

"Fine," she said with her eyes closed.

"You don't look fine."

She turned a pointed look to him. "Thank you. That made me feel so much better."

"What's goin' on?"

"Dizzy."

"Maybe it's a blood sugar thing," he said, rolling out of bed. "I'll get you some toast."

"You don't have to do that," she murmured, sitting up again.

"No trouble. You've got a few minutes before you have to really start getting ready for work anyway, so I'll just get you some toast, and be back in a flash."

She managed a small smile. "Thanks."

"No problem." He said, winking as he went out to the kitchen.

She had to chuckle softly as she heard his signature "Oh, for cryin' out loud!"

The instant sound of shades hitting the windowsills made her wonder what reporter had attempted to get a picture of her husband dressed in his usual evening wear of boxers and a tank top.

-

"What exactly do you think we should do with Grace?" Sam asked as she pulled out her dress uniform.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked poking his head out from where he was brushing his teeth in the master bathroom.

"Well, clearly staying at Sara Carmichael's house isn't going to be the final answer to this thing," she said, setting the uniform on the bed as she prepared to slip out of her robe and into the clothes. "And I'm not sure I want Grace to have to deal with the reporters at all."

"But disrupting her routine would be just as hazardous," Jack finished.

"Exactly." She said, nodding as she slipped into her skirt.

He spit into the sink before he sighed and looked back at her. "I have no idea."

Her brow furrowed as she tried to button the skirt. The recent stress must have led to some weight gain because she wasn't able to zip her skirt up. She inhaled before trying to zip it again. There was no change.

"Dammit," she breathed softly.

"What?" Jack asked, walking out of the bathroom as he wiped his hands on a towel.

"Skirt's too small," she said, slipping out of it again. "I guess I'm just going to have to take a page out of your book and wear BDUs today while I wait for my other skirt to get back from the cleaners."

His brow furrowed. "That's weird."

She shrugged. "I might have put on some weight with all the stress I've been under lately, or the skirt could have shrunk. I haven't worn it lately, and it was the smaller of the two anyway."

"Yeah. Maybe." He said, doubtfully.

"I'm not pregnant," she said, looking back at him. "Carolyn Lam ran another panel of tests the other day, thinking I might have something like hypoglycemia or something with my dizzy spells and wacky digestive system."

"I didn't say anything," he said, raising his hands in surrender.

She sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"You've got a lot on your plate," he said with understanding and tenderness in his voice.

"You can say that again," she murmured, reaching into her closet and pulling out jeans and a blouse.

"You've got a lot on your plate," he said with a teasing smile as she slipped the jeans on.

She raised an eyebrow though she couldn't help but smile at his use of humor to lighten the mood. "I love you," she laughed softly as she quickly fastened the button on her jeans.

"Thank you, thank you," he winked. "I'll be here all week."

She grinned in amusement as she slipped the green scoop neck shirt over her head before reaching for socks and shoes. "You know, it's a wonder that Marks didn't nominate you to be the court jester," she teased.

"Oh, thanks!" He retorted with mock indignation.

"What?" She asked, looking back at him as she put on her socks. "You'd be great for the country's morale!"

"Maybe I should be grateful we don't have a court that needs a jester," he laughed softly.

She giggled softly as she stood again, this time looking for her watch as she slipped her feet into her shoes. "You'd think that with my alphabetized bookshelves I'd be able to keep an eye on where my watch is..."

A flash of silver caught Jack's eye as the watch flew past his ear. "Uh...Sam?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as she caught the flying object.

She swallowed as she stared at the object in her hand.

"Maybe you shouldn't do...that...around the reporters..." He said, soberly.

She managed a sick smile as she felt nausea well up within her again. What the hell was going on?

-

"Well, the EEG didn't show any abnormal brain activity," Carolyn said, walking over to where Sam sat and Jack stood.

"Well that should be a red flag right there," Jack said, lightly. "I mean, we are talking about Carter here."

Sam managed an appreciative smile despite her growing fears.

"There was some...strange magnetic interference with the MRI, but that could be explained by any number of things."

Sam sobered. "So...what's going on?"

"I don't know," Carolyn admitted more soberly herself. "You said this has only happened once?"

"That I know of," Sam nodded.

"You don't think you'd notice?" Jack asked, skeptically.

"Well, to be honest, Jack, I haven't been too observant lately. I've had too much on my mind," she admitted.

He nodded. "Yeah. I guess that's true."

"There have been a few times that I've looked down to find something in my hands that I thought was going to take longer to get, but...that could just be my recent confusion..."

Carolyn nodded, pensively. "And there hasn't been anything else strange going on?"

"You mean, besides the fact that I've had nausea, dizziness, fainting, and vomiting pretty much 24-hours a day since I was affected by an alien perfume which made me go cavewoman on my husband?" Sam asked, wryly. "No."

"Your skirt didn't fit this morning," Jack said, seriously.

"Yes, but I already explained that one, Jack," she said, cringing slightly.

"Your skirt didn't fit?" Carolyn asked, confused.

"I think with all of the stress, I've put on some weight. That's all." She said, shaking her head. "I'll get back to a regular routine in the gym, and I'll be back to normal."

"Lie back," Carolyn said, setting the clipboard down.

Sam sighed as she did so. "I swear. There's nothing strange about putting on a few pounds with everything going on."

"When you're vomiting and have a smaller appetite than usual," Carolyn said, skeptically. "I have the right to double-check."

Sam sighed as the physician gently pressed against her stomach.

"Ooh..." Sam grimaced after a few moments as the nausea began bubbling within her again with each press of the doctor's fingers against her stomach.

"General, I want to run an ultrasound," Carolyn said, worriedly.

Jack's eyebrows raised instantly. "Because..."

"There's something in there," Carolyn said, trying not to look worried. "And...I want to know what it is."

Sam looked up at her husband, worriedly. "Any theories?" Sam asked, looking back at the doctor.

"Well, given the fact that you haven't had a positive pregnancy test since you got here..." Carolyn said, soberly.

"You think it's a mass..." Sam said, paling.

"I want to rule everything out," Carolyn said, gently.

Sam nodded slowly, as she absorbed the thought. She'd been exposed to a great deal of radiation over her time here at the SGC. It wasn't too far-fetched to think that, having survived her combat years, she'd find her death in succumbing to some sort of cancer. She managed a faltering smile as Carolyn left. "Well...that would explain not being able to get pregnant again..." She said after a moment.

He reached for her hand, silently squeezing it in his support as they waited for the nurse to arrive with the machine.

-

"Hey, Sam?" Daniel asked, hurrying into the infirmary. "Mitchell wants to know..."

He paused as he saw his friends clutching one another's hands in worry. "Uh...what's goin' on?"

"It's okay, Daniel," Sam said with a shaking voice. "What does Mitchell want to know?"

"Well, he's taken over for Reynolds like you asked, and he's got a big reporter problem, but I guess he can handle it..."

Sam nodded slowly. "Yeah. Have him send the public relations officer head over and talk to them."

"Sure thing." Daniel said, staying put.

"Something else we can help you with?" Jack asked, looking over at his friend with red eyes.

"What's going on?" He asked after a moment.

"We think we may have found the reason for my...symptoms lately..." Sam said, limply.

"Oh?" He asked, surprised. He studied his friends. "It's not good news, is it?"

"We're not sure," Jack said with a sigh. "We're still waiting for one test."

"But it doesn't look good," Sam admitted, soberly.

"Oh..." Daniel murmured, thoughtfully.

Silence reigned for a few moments before Sam looked over at him. "Go tell Mitchell what I told you. We'll stop by your office after we know more about what's going on with me."

Daniel nodded, numbly. "Yeah. Sure. Uh...good luck."

"We'll need it," Sam murmured before inhaling deeply as her friend left. She looked over at her husband. "I've been thinking a lot about Nirrti," she said after a moment.

"Yeah? What about her?" Jack asked, almost mechanically.

"Well, if this is...what this is..." She said, uncomfortably. "Well...I wouldn't be the only team member who got in that device and came out with some...abnormal abilities and a strange growth."

"Yeah, but Jonas's tumor was in his brain. That made sense with the psychic abilities..."

Sam exhaled. "And...Cassandra...she didn't have a tumor, but her body's natural electomagnetic field was chan..."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, we don't even know what it is yet, Sam!" He exploded.

She fell silent as he calmed. "I don't want to talk about you dying if it's not imminent, and even then, I won't give up hope of saving you until there's no chance in hell that you're still alive."

She inhaled and exhaled softly as she squeezed his hand gently. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that then."

"Generals," Carolyn greeted as she wheeled an ultrasound cart into the room. "I'm sorry about leaving you for so long. I had a crisis I needed to attend to."

"It's okay," Sam managed with a preoccupied smile. "We understand..."

Carolyn offered a comforting smile. "We're just trying to figure out what's going on," she said, gently.

Sam nodded. "We understand.

The physician gently pushed Sam's shirt up in an effort to get full access to her stomach area. "This might be a little cold," the doctor apologized as she gently squirted the ultrasound gel onto Sam's bare skin.

Sam grimaced slightly as she laid back on the examination table in an effort to give Carolyn the best reading as she ran the ultrasound wand over Sam's stomach to smooth the gel before she began staring at the screen.

"This can't be right," the doctor murmured as her eyes widened in surprise.

"What?" Jack asked, noticing the look of fear in his wife's eyes.

"I'm not sure," Carolyn said, not even bothering to offer the couple a reassuring smile. She moved the wand to various places on Sam's stomach as she stared at the picture.

Jack looked up at the screen, somewhat surprised. "Is that what I think..." He began, unwilling to jinx the results.

Carolyn nodded slowly. "I don't care what your blood and urine tests have said, General. You're pregnant."

"Excuse me?" Sam asked, managing to find her voice first.

"There's your baby," Carolyn said, pointing to a spot on the ultrasound where a head could clearly be deciphered as well as four fingers. "And from the looks of it, he or she is as healthy and happy as a...twelve-week-old fetus can be."

Sam turned a shocked eye to her husband who was more than a little bewildered himself. "We're...going to have a baby," she managed faintly.

"Yeah. I got that," he said, tearing his eyes from the ultrasound screen to look at her.

She managed a grin as tears of joy and gratitude welled up in her eyes.

Jack leaned over and kissed her cheek. "What'd I say, Carter?" He murmured as he rested his forehead against her cheek. "Never say never..."

She chuckled softly as the tears came more and more quickly.

Carolyn smiled as she slipped out of the examination room to allow the couple a little more privacy.

"A baby," Sam whispered, not even noticing the doctor's departure.

"Yeah," he said as a grin slowly recaptured his features.

"Twelve weeks," she said in absolute wonder.

"Yeah. A little less than a third through."

"And I thought I was just being moody because of my job," she teased.

He laughed heartily as she sobered.

"What?" He asked, noticing the change.

"What about the telekinesis?" She asked after a moment.

"What about it?"

She swallowed. "What if...I'm not the one who's telekinetic?"

"Oh." He said with sudden understanding.

She sighed softly as she rested a hand on her stomach, protectively.

"Well, we're just going to have to deal." He said after a moment. "Like we did with Grace's clairvoyance."

"But we never had to deal with daycare and telekinesis."

He grimaced at the thought before he exhaled. "I'm going to say no," he said, finally. "Marks can find another secretary of defense. I'll keep training my airmen, and you can keep your command..."

"Oh, I don't think so." She said, seriously. "Not if I'm going to have a baby."

"Sam..."

"Jack, we had a miscarriage because I had some scar tissue which we'd missed. I'm putting in for reassignment or retirement as soon as it can be approved because I refuse to have a miscarriage because of stress."

"Honey, I think if you were going to miscarry, you would have done it by now," he said, seriously. "I mean, what's more stressful than a new enemy?"

"True," she said after a moment.

"You do what you want to do, and I'll support you, but...I don't think that miscarriage needs to be your reason."

She nodded. "We'll think about it, then."

"Yeah." He said with a grin.

"You can't keep from smiling, can you?" She asked, affectionately.

"Can you?" He challenged.

"No." She said, breaking into a full mega-watt smile.

He leaned over and kissed her lips. "I love you, Samantha Carter."

"I love you too, Jack O'Neill," she said with a tender smile.