"Are you sure you want to go?" I ask Sara. Lainie is having a baby shower. I know that these kinds of things are hard for Sara. She badly wants to have a baby. Even now that she has a daughter, she still wants a baby.
"I'm fine," she says with a smile.
"I could pretend I'm sick, and you had to take care of me," I say. I'm not actually sure if hanging out with me at eight months pregnant and my toddler is going to be better than a baby shower.
"I'm really fine," Sara insists.
And she looks strangely fine. "Why are you so fine?" I ask. She hasn't ever been this ok with any of the other baby showers. A hand touches her stomach quickly, fleetingly.
"Sara! Are you…" I stop myself just in time. I don't need to rub her ace in the fact that she isn't having a baby. Particularly today.
"You can't tell Jack," she whispers conspiratorially.
"Seriously? You're having a baby?" I gush.
She nods her head.
"Oh my gosh! Why wouldn't you tell him? He's going to be thrilled."
"I will just… we lost a baby once, Sha're."
I frown, "Jack told me. There aren't any that he doesn't know about, are there?"
She shakes her head, "No, but he's not going not going to lose another child, if I can help it. He's not going to know about this until I'm further along."
"I think you should tell him, Sara. He did this with you and Cassie. He could have used you in the hours next to Cassie's hospital bed. If you're that scared about this baby, you probably need him by your side."
"I'll be all right," she assures me.
"Ok, then I guess you're stuck with me by your side. I want to come to all your appointments and things until he knows."
She nods. I put my hand on my expansive stomach.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't think it's anything," I say. Although, I'm starting to get suspicious I'm in labor. I'm not sure yet, it doesn't hurt as much as it did with Naima, and it's early yet.
"Where are our husbands?" she asks.
"Really dangerous mission," I say honestly. But I'm sparing her from a lot, too. They went with the Tok'ra on a mission to hell to save a Tok'ra operative.
"If you decide you are in labor, I'm on 'by your side' duty until your husband gets back."
"Thanks," I say.
-0-0-0-
"Thank you guys so much," Lainie gushes as she finishes opening presents.
"Sara," I whisper.
"Yeah," she says, her eyes still focused on our friend.
"I think I'm going to have to take you up on that offer."
"What offer?" she asks, looking at my face for the first time.
"A ride to the hospital," I say.
"You're in labor!" she exclaims, so loud that the whole room is focusing on me.
"I'm going to call Walter and see if he can recall your husband," Anna declares.
"I'm driving her to the hospital," Sara says.
"I'll pick Naima up from day care," Lainie says.
Catherine really wasn't kidding when she that military wives were the best community you could ever hope for.
-0-0-0-
"She's beautiful," Sara says, looking at my baby.
"You want to hold her?" I ask.
"Ok," she says.
Suddenly the door burst open. "I escaped from Janet," Daniel says.
"Are you ok?" I ask, concerned. He looks really rough.
"I'm fine. Show me my baby," he says. Sara happily obliges, and then quietly leaves the room. She's probably going to check on her own husband. If Daniel had been more thoughtful, he would have told her how he was doing.
"Are you ok?" I ask again, more firmly.
"I'm not the one who just had a baby," he says evasively.
"What did happen to you?" I ask reaching for his hand.
It's shaking as it holds the baby, "Just a little torture," he says, attempting to make it sound light and joking, but his voice shakes at the end.
"Daniel," I say softly.
His eyes meet mine, "They, ah," he licks his lips, "Drugged me, and I saw you Sha're. You were asking me to tell you about work. You… said you were going to take the kids and leave me if I wouldn't let you in on some classified stuff," his voice breaks again.
"Hey," I say, scooting over and pulling him onto the bed next to me. To be perfectly honest, he probably needs to be laying down more than I do right now, "I'm not leaving you," I say wrapping an arm around him, "Did I make you give away information?"
"No," he says softly shaking his head.
"I'm glad you're back."
Janet rushes into the room. "Damn it, Daniel!" she says.
"I made him lay down," I offer.
"Yeah, well, he needs to go back on base. You still have alien drugs in your system."
"I also have a new daughter," he says.
Janet's face goes soft. "Ok, fine, five minutes, and then I'll get you back on base. For at least the night, maybe another day." Then she walks into the hallway, but I know she hasn't gone far.
"Maybe we'll have a homecoming all together," I say.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here when she was born," he says.
"Not your fault. I'm sorry the Goa'uld used me to torture you."
"I have something that might make you feel better. But I'm not supposed to tell you."
"Tease," he mutters.
"You can't tell Jack," I say.
He gives me a strange look, "Why do I need to keep a secret from him?"
"Sara is trying to protect him. He's going to know eventually," I say.
"Spill," he says with a smile.
"She's pregnant."
"Who?"
"Sara."
"No way!" he says, looking at me, "Seriously?"
"Yep, and you're going to have to keep this secret for a couple of months."
He grins. "Sha're - we do make beautiful children, don't we?" he asks, looking at our baby cradled between us.
"We do, and since she insisted on coming early, we don't have a name for her yet."
"I was thinking Omm," he says.
I laugh, "You know that in my language that word means mom, right?"
"I know, but most people wouldn't know that. I think it's pretty, and you miss her."
"I can't name my daughter 'Mommy', but if you want to reach into the past, my sister's name was Eshe."
"Eshe, I like it. What does it mean?"
"Ironically, it means life."
"Perfect," he says.
"Ok, I need my patient now," Janet says, poking her head into the room.
"See you soon, Dan'yel," I say, giving him a kiss.