SG-1 went on many missions over the next year, luckily never coming back with anything more than a few bumps and bruises, except for the one time that Daniel broke his arm. Thankfully, the Asgard had decided that enough was enough, and shortly after the first wedding anniversary for Jack and Sam, had went after each of the remaining Goa'uld. The few that were left posed only a limited threat, and the biggest issue in the galaxy was helping all of the newly freed Jaffa.
Sam and Cam had managed to find a comfortable balance as co-commanders. Occasionally, Cam even led the team by himself as Sam's abilities were needed elsewhere. For the first time, she was actually considering giving up command of SG-1 to Cam for more time with her family and to devote her full attention to the Scientific Technology duties which were taking up more and more of her time.
She drew the line after two consecutive weeks of work days where she failed to make it home until after Jake had been fed and tucked into bed. As she collapsed into bed that night, thinking about how Jake was starting kindergarten the in a few days, she knew that she and her husband needed to talk.
----
The next morning, she woke up, significantly less tired than she had been the night before, to a note on the bedside table from Jack.
Sam
Happy Birthday! I'm taking Jake over to Mark's for the day.
Don't move until I get back! That's an order Carter!
Love,
Jack
Sam just smiled and snuggled back under the covers of her bed, waiting for her husband to come home. Sam thought about how much things had changed since their upcoming 2 year anniversary.
No longer were they the only family that didn't live within the confines of the original camp. Three large apartment buildings had been beamed off of Earth and brought to 'New Earth'. Several of the larger families also lived in newly constructed houses. The Asgard had offered beaming technology in the form of platforms which permitted people to move from place to place with ease. Unfortunately, Sam was the only one who truly understood this technology, which meant when it broke, she was the one who got the call to go fix it.
Jack was really enjoying his position teaching at the Academy, and even more so, his time with his son. Jack fully knew that Jake was his mother's son and didn't mind being second best. Lately though he had noticed that Jake was missing his mom as much as Jack was missing his wife. It was time for Jack to have a talk with his wife.
----
Jack arrived home to find his wife still in bed with the family photo album. Silently, he kicked off his shoes and stripped down to his boxers before crawling into bed with her again, even if it was mid-morning. Already, she was to the middle of the album which had pictures from Cam and Carolyn's wedding. Jake and Izzy had served as ring boy and flower girl, much to the delight of both children. Sam had been teary eyed to see her son so dressed up. She snuggled up to Jack as she looked at the next picture, a formal family picture taken the same day as the Mitchell wedding. She smiled, remembering how hard it had been to get Jake to keep his tie on until after the photographer had snapped the photo after the wedding.
"He's growing up so fast," Sam whispered.
"Yeah, he is," agreed Jack.
"And I'm missing a lot of it," Sam added.
"You do the best that you can," Jack quickly said, projecting more assurances then he really felt with his voice.
"But I'm still not there. Jack, I haven't been home in time to tuck our only child into bed any night for the last two weeks. Only two of those nights was I off world," Sam complained.
"Sam you're a Colonel in the Air Force, the leader of SG-1, and the head of the Scientific Technology Department. You've got a lot on your plate. Add a son and a husband to that and I'm not surprised you don't make it home as much as you want," confided Jack.
"I know, I'm just wondering if it's time for a change," Sam admitted.
"Whatever you do, you know you can count on my support," Jack offered.
"I know," Sam accepted. "There's something else we need to talk about though."
Jack sat in silence, waiting for Sam to continue.
"I talked to Carolyn the other day. You know that my cycle has been really messed up ever since I went off of the birth control. It's never been regular, and lately, it's become even more irregular. Carolyn said that my chances of having children are probably down to almost zero now," Sam explained as tears began to fill her eyes.
Jack took the photo album from her hands and placed it on the nightstand before pulling Sam into his arms. Rather than attempt to quiet her, he let her cry until there were no tears left. Only when she wasn't crying anymore did he begin to speak, "Sam, I love you and only you. Before we got married, I told you that having you would be enough for me. That hasn't changed. If it's possible, I love you more now than the day I married you Sam. Together we have a son. He may not be our biological son, but he's still our son."
"I love you Jack, forever and always," promised Sam as she passionately kissed her husband. One thing led to another and it was quite a bit later before the couple got out of bed.
----
Over the next few days, Sam talked with Cam, General Hammond, General Landry, Jack, and President Henry Hayes. When Sam had talked to Cam, she told him that she was stepping down as commander of SG-1. Although initially shocked, he confirmed that Carolyn and him had discussed starting a family and that once that happened; he had considered scaling back his field work too.
When Sam spoke with Landry, she officially informed him that she wished to resign as commander of SG-1 and become more involved with the alien technology, specifically working with the recruits at the Academy to train them to work on the technology. Landry accepted her wishes and acknowledged her recommendation to make Cam a full Colonel and leader of SG-1. By mutual agreement, she would remain as the leader of SG-1 for the next three months as they searched for a replacement for the team.
Sam repeated these wishes to General Hammond, despite the fact he was only involved in an advisory capacity.
After all of this she had one more stop to make, President Hayes. Hayes welcomed her and encouraged her desire to educate the future students on the different alien technology. He personally promised her that he would see to her transfer and also accepted her recommendation regarding Cam.
Finally, Sam went to see Jack who was at the end of his day. Together, they went to the school to pick up their son from school. The little boy was so excited to see his mom and dad that Jacob O'Neill almost toppled his mother over in his enthusiasm.
Later that night, the three sat around the dinner table together. Sam told her family, "I'm going to try really hard to be around a lot more."
While Jack knew exactly what Sam was talking about, Jake was just happy that his mom was going to be around more.
Later that night, Sam tucked the little boy into bed and before he drifted off to sleep, he said, "I love you mom," which only made Sam's smile bigger as she said back, "Love you more."
After he was finally asleep, Sam crawled into bed with Jack, smiling as her husband's arms immediately shot out to pull her to him. "So, are you okay," he questioned.
"Yeah, I am," she claimed, "It was time my family became the most important thing in my life, and I'm ready to quit making regular trips through the Stargate."
They drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.
----
The three months flew by until Sam's last day as the leader of SG-1 arrived. The previous day had marked her last mission as commander of SG-1. This day found her team in full dress uniform standing in front of a small crowd of SG personnel in the gateroom as the President, General Landry, General Dixon, and General O'Neill began a series of promotions for her teammates. Dave Dixon had been promoted from Colonel not long after Jack and Sam had adopted Jake. Jack had found that his duties training recruits were more than enough to keep him occupied, especially as he wanted to spend time with Jake, so Dixon had been promoted to assume co-command of the base with Landry, something that offered Dave slightly more regular hours to spend with his own family.
General Landry began, "As you all know, we are gathered here today to celebrate a change that will be occurring on our flagship team, before we get to that though, I have several long overdue promotions to present. First and foremost, is the promotion of Lieutenants Blackridge and Green to Captain." Sam quickly stepped forwards with Cam to assist in the changing of insignias as the two officers received their promotions.
"Next, is the promotion of Major Tracey Michaels to Lt. Colonel," Dixon announced. A shocked expression lit the face of Tracey Michaels as Landry and Jack changed out the insignia on her uniform and returned her salute.
At this point Jack stepped to the podium and spoke, "All right, time to put the rest of SG-1 out of their misery as they find out who their new commander is. Despite rumors that we would brining in someone new, the Generals came to a consensus that the new leader should have previous SG command experience. So it is my honor to announce the promotion of Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell to full Colonel and endorse him as the new leader of SG-1."
If Michaels had been surprised, Cam was shocked to the point that Sam had to give him a huge shove forward. General O'Neill and General Landry changed out the insignia themselves, each offering their own private congratulations. Landry even offered his son-in-law a quick pat on the back.
Only at this point did the President step to the podium and speak, "Last of all I'd like to announce that while Colonel Carter will be stepping down as the leader of SG-1, she has accepted a formal command position as the head of the Scientific Technology Department along with an appointment to General O'Neill's staff for the training of SG recruits in the area of alien technology. With this change in position, it is my honor to promote Colonel Samantha Carter to Brigadier General Samantha Carter." Sam's jaw hit the floor as she realized the honor she was being given and this time is was Cam that got to do the shoving. She approached the podium where Jack and the President changed the insignia on her uniform themselves.
Sam took the opportunity to whisper to Jack, "You knew about this didn't you?"
"I plead the fifth," Jack said with a huge grin on his face and glint in his eye that told her he had known.
The President took a step back as he asked her to repeat her oath, which would finalize the promotion. "I, insert name," he read.
"I Samantha Carter-O'Neill," she said, and after that she really didn't remember saying much as she saw the huge grin on her husband's face.
Again, General Landry stepped to the podium, saying "The last piece of news that I have for today is to announce the appointment of Lt. Mackenzie Williams to SG-1. Congratulations to you all, keep up the good work. Dismissed."
Applause and cheers quickly broke out throughout the room as people gathered to congratulate the various members of SG-1 on their promotions. Jack and Sam even broke their 'on base' rule and shared a long hug and quick kiss.
When Cam approached, he saluted Sam, and she returned his salute before she pulled him into a hug, whispering words of congratulations in his ear.
Their celebration was broken up by a small boy who ran forward, begging for attention from his parents. "Mommy, Mommy," he called, as Sam reached down to pick him up, "You have stars just like Daddy now."
Chuckles of amusement came from the bystanders, as Jack replied, "Yeah she does young man, but aren't you supposed to be in school?" Jack asked as he ruffled his son's hair.
"For crying out loud Dad," Jake said, which only brought more laughter from the crowd, "Grandpa George came and got me and told me that I needed be here to watch Mom get her stars."
"Well, how about you, me, and mom go get some lunch before you have to be back in school?" Jack offered.
"Do I have to?" the little boy asked.
"Yes," Sam declared, not wanting to let her husband attempt to find a way to keep their son out of school.
----
It was a couple of weeks later that Thor beamed her up unexpectedly from getting Jake ready for school, something that was a common occurrence in the O'Neill household, and offered some surprising news.
When Sam realized where she was, she turned around to greet Thor. After exchanging greetings and the necessary communication with the O'Neill household to explain that Thor had indeed beamed her away, Thor had several questions for her.
"General Carter," Thor began, "have you been ill recently?"
Sam considered his question before replying, "I had a touch of the flu last week, but other than that, I haven't noticed anything." Worry began to fill her heart, as she asked, "Is there something wrong with me Thor?"
Rather than directly answer her question, Thor explained, "Whenever someone is beamed aboard my ship, a biological scan is performed on them. My scanner detected a difference from your previous scans."
"Is it something bad Thor?" Sam again asked.
"I do not believe it to be bad thing General Carter. Allow me to display the two scans for you," offered Thor.
To Sam, the difference in the two scans was easily detected and at that point, she asked, "Thor, can you beam me to Dr. Lam's office?"
In a flash of white light Sam found herself standing in Carolyn's office.
----
Although Dr. Carolyn Lam saw many strange things in her work at the SGC, she was not quite used to people showing up in her office in flashes of white light. Yet, today, she was sitting at her desk when Brigadier General Samantha Carter did just that.
"Sam, is there something I can help you with?" Carolyn asked, not quite sure what Sam could need.
"Yeah, um, did anything unusual show up in my latest blood work?" Sam questioned, not quite sure how to broach this question with her friend and doctor.
"Let me grab your chart," Carolyn offered. She soon returned with Sam's very large file and looked through the top few pages which were the most recent, "Here, have a look. I don't see anything that's very strange. Your hormone levels have been slowly on the rise the past few months and made a rather large jump recently, but I attributed that to the adjustment to the lack of birth control that your body is still going through. It's taking longer than I thought, but without knowing the full effects of the naquadah in your system, I could never really tell you how long that adjustment period would take."
"What does the naquadah do to my blood work," Sam questioned aloud, trying not to let her excitement show as she handed the results back to Carolyn.
A quick glance at them told Carolyn all she needed to know, "Well for as long as I've seen your blood work, along with Dr. Fraiser, your results would put you above normal, to the point that your normal blood work almost always indicates that you're pregnant. Can I ask why you needed to know this?"
Sam seemed lost in thought for a moment before she answered the question, "Oh, Thor beamed me on board his ship and he said that there were some inconsistencies in my bio-scan compared with the last time I was on board. I just wanted to make sure that it was the same thing you had seen. So the rise in hormones isn't anything I need to be concerned about?"
"No Sam, for you, you are perfectly normal, nothing to be concerned about," Carolyn reassured.
"Good," Sam smiled, "You and Cam are still okay with keeping Jake for a night while Jack and I go away overnight for our anniversary next week, right?"
"I know Cam is looking forward to it, and I'm hoping that Jake really wears him out so that Cam reconsiders his idea of 5 or 6 kids," claimed Carolyn as the two woman shared a laugh.
"Jack originally said the same thing, but things went so well with Jake, and we got busy with other things. We agreed not to adopt another child. Sometimes I think he's missing out, but we're happy with our family," Sam admitted before thanking Carolyn, speaking into the communicator, and disappearing once more in a flash of white light.
Only then did it occur to Carolyn to wonder which he Sam had been referring to.
----
AN: I am not a doctor, nor do I have any real medical knowledge so I just made up all of the medical related stuff. I apologize to anyone in the medical world who I might have offended by doing this.