First let me apologize for the long wait since my last post.

Spring is trying to come here in my part of the world. We had 6 inches of snow just a couple of weeks ago, but now my daffodils and tulips are up.

Hope everyone is well!

XXX

Almost 24 hours pass before Jack gets in touch with them again, and when he does the look on his face sets off alarm bells for Sam.

"What's wrong?" she demands without preamble. "Are you okay?" He doesn't answer right away, and she presses. "Jack?"

He blinks and refocuses. "Um… yeah… I'm fine, Sam. It's just—they wanna come for a visit…"

"Who?" Landry asks. "The Asgaard?"

"Yeah. I'm afraid so…"

"That's fine, I suppose," Landry says, puzzled by Jack's apparent reluctance. "Do they want to speak to somebody in the government? The President?"

But Jack is shaking his head. "No. Nothing like that." He focuses on Sam. "They want to see the baby!" The last words come out in a rush.

They are all staring at Jack. "Lauren?" Sam says. "They want to see Lauren?"

"Yeah." Jack nods.

Sam clutches the baby to her chest. "Why?" The word comes out in a barely audible squeak.

"Because they've never seen a baby…" Jack says softly.

Daniel steps in with an explanation. "Like Thor said, it's been thousands of years since they've had babies. They're probably just very curious. It's understandable in a way…"

"Understandable?" Sam cuts in, glaring.

"Sam, it's okay," Daniel tries to soothe her. "I'm sure they don't want to hurt her…"

She takes a deep breath. These are the Asgaard. They're our friends. But her protective maternal instinct has kicked into overdrive.

"How many of them want to come?" Landry asks.

"Well, uh…" Jack clears his throat. "All of them…"

Sam gulps. He can't mean all of the Asgaard.

"All of whom?" Daniel asks.

"The Council," Jack says. "All of the Council."

"How many?" Landry asks.

"There's… um, about… errr…" The rest is lost in a mumble.

"How many, Jack?" Landry demands.

Jack takes a deep breath. "About seventy." When they all stare at him in disbelief, he clarifies; "There are about seventy members of the full New Council."

There is a shocked silence.

"Seventy Asgaard want to come see Lauren?" Sam says at last.

"Do you mean literally… in person?" Daniel asks.

Jack nods.

"Not just by holo?"

Jack shakes his head.

"I don't think we can accommodate seventy Asgaard on the base," Landry says slowly.

At this point Thor steps into the communicator field. "You would not need to house them, General Landry. There are adequate accommodations on board my ship."

"That's good," Landry says, relieved.

"They could beam down in small groups," Thor suggests. "Perhaps a dozen at a time."

Even a dozen Asgaard seems pretty overwhelming at the moment!