Hi there! If you read this… wow! You are awesome, you went through 37 chapters of my writing. Thank you! Well, this is finally goodbye. Hopefully I don't disappoint… who knows, maybe if it is too disappointing I manage to come up with an Epilogue or something… anyhow!
You are awesome, you stood by this journey and now you will be able to finish it! You read over 170k words (and some bad grammar). And pushed through and got here, that's a feat!.
Anyhow, I'm kind of sad of letting this one go, but in the other hand, I'm also glad.. you know, the other story in my head is ready to be written without this one coming in the middle!
Anyway!...
Enjoy!
M.
Chapter 37 – New Beginnings.
When they finally were able to speak, they were already dragged up at the commissary for the party, and they found that more than exchanging confusing glances, they didn't know where to start to understand the length of what had just happened. Whatever they expected to come from their presentation of Sam's pregnancy, was nowhere near a promotion. They hoped for a transfer and maybe a reprimand on each or either one of their files, not a star and an eagle!
Well, promotions as big as theirs often were summoners of change. They didn't mind change, they were ready to take change in and make it their best friend, if it would allow them not to rot in jail, they would even welcome transfers far away one from another where one or both of them would have to start over; thus with their eyes set on a retirement goal which was looking more and more promising at that point.
They knew, change was waiting for them at the corner. Not only, with Jack being a General who wouldn't have a use inside the SGC, with General Hammond not even close to his lasts days. And Sam, she could have taken over SG-1 but her pregnancy, had already taken her out of that line of work, and what use is a team leader who can't travel with the team? … and last but not least, they would have to welcome change in the most unexpected of their ways, their private lives would shake to the core now that they could get to the top of the tallest building around and scream to whomever wanted to listen that they were married, that they have been married for eight years already!
They entered the room and tried to stand towards the back to be less noticed by the crowd that was currently in a mix of exchanging congratulations, questioning what General Ryan said and grabbing food and drinks. However, they felt like all eyes were on them, that they knew for sure they were the secret couple and somehow they were liars and untrustworthy. After a few moments, they managed to get to the back of the room, both immersed in their own confusion, and fears of what such revelation would bring to the SGC, to the family away from home. Then, Sam almost jumped to the ceiling when Daniel bumped her with his shoulder, with a hand in her chest as she blinked quickly, she regained her composure and smiled brightly at him. The brother that the USAF had managed to give her.
"I guess a triple congratulation party is in order," he smiled engulfing her in a hug. "Grats Sam, you do deserve it"
"Hey! That's too much PDA," Jack joked with a raised eyebrow, and a proud smile that betrayed the menacing glare he was giving him
"Don't be so jealous, General… or I might hug you too," Daniel warned smugly
"You won't!" Jack jumped in a defensive stance
"I will"
"You won't"
"I will"
"You… ouch!" Jack exclaimed trying to gain back his feet. Sam had pushed him with her shoulder making him lose his stability, but she did it in such way than it looked like a friendly bump. "Oh you, don't you dare to put your innocent mask! I know it was totally on purpose! You are evil!"
"I'm sorry, General, but I have no idea of what are you talking about? Do you Daniel?"
"Nope… I didn't see a thing!" Daniel added with a sheepish smile.
"Hey! There you are hiding! Congratulations!"
"Janet! We should say the same thing... the congratulations not the hiding," Sam smiled, exchanging a quick hug with her friend.
"Yeah, I couldn't believe they actually remembered me"
"Who could forget about a power monger needle psychopath?" Jack joked
"Well, apparently having to deal with a wussy former Colonel does have an effect" she countered and they all laughed. It was at that moment of happiness when General Ryan decided to approach the group.
"Congratulations to you all," he said surveying the group, then he directed his eyes to the duo he knew was a couple, "General, Colonel, I really mean what I've said." Sam blushed, while Jack nodded, trying not to look uncomfortable under the General's praise. "Really, what you managed to do… is an impressive act."
"Well, uhm... Thank you… sir. I, we… really appreciate your words," Jack struggled, and the whole group nodded.
"However, we still need to have a chat with both of you… about the recent developments," he warned and they gulped and nodded simultaneously. "But … you have a party to enjoy, and you should savor it. We will have the meeting tomorrow at 0900. Until then just live it up"
"Thank you, sir," the foursome said, and the couple frowned and Janet looked pensive. Daniel looked the grim faces around him
"Geez… I never thought I would see the day that you finally managed to spread your overthinking over to Jack," he added and got a punch in the shoulder for it. "Cheer up guys, I don't think they will promote you if they were about to kick you out"
"Well, there's that"
"It's just… we really have no idea how this came to be…" Sam added, and Janet blushed. "You know something…" she affirmed and Janet gulped.
"I… uhm…"
"Janet… I could order you," Jack warned
"And I might still not tell you, Sir. I can say the knowledge I have is mine trough Doctor/patient confidentiality"
"You wouldn't," Daniel pleaded and the crestfallen face of Jack, made Janet smirk.
"No, I won't. Well, what I know… when you left for P34XZ0 I had a conversation with General Hammond. I didn't do a thing, but I believe he might"
"How?"
"I don't know, he told me he would move the strings if he had anything over the ones you were already pulling, and then when you showed us the implanted memories, well, he did ask for a copy. Why would he want one if he didn't know how to help you?"
"Well, that day when we met," Hammond intervened, making all four members jump in their places, with a pleased smile he continued, "Doctor Frasier made me remind of a connection I have, and it might look like favoritism if I was the one who pressured for the promotions you got, thus I didn't do anything but point the right person towards your files"
"Sir?" They frowned at General Hammond's words.
"General Ryan and I know each other from way back, just like he knows your father, Colonel. He met your father before you joined. I'm not sure he knows the real situation surrounding your situation the day he mentioned, for his words I believe he doesn't. But no matter how much he knows about your reasons, he is in possession now of an extremely detailed grasp of your whole military career. Even better than the one I have, since we all know, I only got your extremely covered up file plus the ones you both managed to declassify for us."
"I…" Sam started and he raised a hand to stop her.
"Don't, I really had nothing to do with it and it's better that way, so it can't be said you pushed your way up the ladder from the wrong side of the line and manage that way to spot what is considered one of the brightest careers in the USAF… and, as I said, the only thing I did was to show the right person, the way in. He connected the dots and he pushed through and got you to this moment, that your files are thoroughly interwoven was a plus side which pushed Jack's file in the open for him. So really, the only one who you both should thank … is him"
"I, in the other hand, should thank you, General." Janet added with a smile and a blush.
"Actually… you have the wrong General too, Janet. I didn't have a thing to do with your recommendation. Apparently, dealing with certain oversensitive to needles, penlights and bedrest officers, can actually help you gaining what you deserve"
Jack actually blushed at the comment, Janet eyes widened for a second at the surprise and Sam smirked.
"You knew? This whole time you knew?" she glared at Sam, who sheepishly nodded.
"We all thought you deserve some recognition, Janet. We have to deal with the Goa'ulds and all... but you have to deal with us in our worst situations and that's something we appreciate thoroughly. I have lost count of the amount of times you saved my life, or the lives of those I love." Janet blushed at Sam's kind words, and coughed trying to find words to answer that. "However, no matter how much we wanted you recognized," She said gesturing between her and Daniel, and Teal'c who had just managed to join the group, "none of us could do it. We added our own small notes, and we gathered small notes of most of the base… but without General O'Neill's main recommendation, our notes wouldn't leave the base."
"It was their idea"
"Actually," Daniel stopped Jack, "It was Sam's and Jack's idea. I found them one day talking about how many times you saved us, and they told me they wanted to see if with a recommendation from Jack and lots of small recommendation notes from the members of the several SG teams, you would get promoted as you deserved"
"Thanks" she finally managed to say, awed by the lengths they went to make her feel recognized. And then, with a deep blush, she finally found something to change the theme, "So, you now can get out of the closet. What do you feel about that?"
"Uh, it will be an adventure," Sam smiled
"Unveiling secrets could be an extremely long path… but now we are going to wander it"
"See… I told you he gets poetic when he's nervous," Sam smiled.
However, no party at the SGC could be complete without the characteristic chaos of an 'incoming off world activation'. With the experience of years rushing through their bodies, the group managed to run to the elevator and squished themselves into it. They got in time to see the idc being recognized and finally got to breathe deeply and somewhat in relief when Walter's voice announced.
"It the Tok'ra," then blushed fiercely when noticed they were all able to read what he announced out of custom.
"Open the iris," Hammond ordered and Walter did, the metal noise of the iris retracting gave way to the glowing blue of the wormhole.
"It might be dad," Jack said with a smile looking at Sam from the corner of his eyes. And Sam looked terrified for a moment, with a frown, he moved them towards the back of the room and faced her, "What's wrong?"
"Oh… just… the timing, if it is dad…I mean…" she said gesturing towards her 12 weeks old pregnant belly. He did a 'oh' with his mouth while blanching a little. They both knew Jacob Carter loved Aidan with all his being, but what he would say about Sam's newest pregnancy and how it was affecting her career … it was something they weren't really prepared for. And then, as if he had called the men with his previous affirmation, Jacob Carter appeared in the gate room.
Followed by Anise/Freya.
"Welcome, Jacob, Selmak, Anise, Freya, the Colonel is going to you," Hammond said over the mic, making Jacob frown since he saw a glimpse of Sam's presence in the control room. Sam quickly completed the path which separated her from her father, followed closely by Jack. Breaking all protocols, but not forgetting about her baby bump, she hugged her father tightly in a weird looking embrace. Then, he took a step back and looked at her… and smiled.
"Congratulations, Colonel!" he almost jumped in excitement, "When did this happened?" The eagle, and the dress blues she was (thankfully) wearing, distracted her father of noticing anything related to her being pregnant. While, Daniel took in his hands to welcome Anise/Freya and keep her as far away from Jack as he possibly could.
"Well, if you arrived a couple of hours ago, you would have managed to scare the crap out of the USAF Chieff," Jack added from behind Sam. Ready to intervene if something happened. They both knew they would have to tell him and soon, since they were pretty sure Anise/ Freya as there to run some tests on the baby… and, of course, letting him learn that trough the other snake wasn't something they were looking forward.
"So, you too, huh? Congratulations, Jack. I guess I need a full debrief on how is possible for you to be a Colonel, Sammie, last time I checked you were just a Major…"
"Well not a full debrief, but trust me … there will be a long overdue conversation." Sam added walking beside her father towards the elevator.
"After you get checked, dad," Jack smirked, "we can take you home with us, there are some exciting news that you should now"
After those words, Jack gulped fully remembering how scary Sam's old man could be, Jack cleared his throat as Jacob asked short answers questions which keep them talking until they both got to return to the mess hall while Jacob continued one floor up to present himself in the infirmary.
While they waited for the Tok'ra to be checked. They tried to ease their worried minds by mingling around, they separated from each other trying not to look to couple-ish while they went around congratulating people on their promotions, and being congratulated in return. All conversations included at least one or two question about what happened to her to grant her the annulled demotion and why she joined, which Jack politely answered with a simple 'I have no idea' and Sam dismissed with a short 'it's all in the past'.
What they also heard was the rumor mill, and contrary to what they expecting, the answer to who might be the secret couple which was going around like fire started over a gunpowder line, didn't contain their names on it. Which for them was surprising, all the clues where given in General Ryan's speech.
He practically spelled their names while telling it, it happened during a special op, so it should have to be two special ops officers. They all knew Jack was one, they know learned Sam was one… how they didn't see? They didn't understand but they weren't complaining either.
Then, one officer at time, the party dwindled and the quintet found themselves free to run home, which they did after leaving T with a good night. As they comfortably sat in Jack's spacious truck, they explained to Jacob that, since they were all to be fancied up in their blues, he had offered to drive all of them around, which also was the perfect excuse for they not to drive two cars to the same venue. Quickly they found themselves being a quartet after they left Janet home. Soon, Daniel was out too and they finally drove to Liz's house.
Together, they went to the front door with huge smiles and waited for someone to answer. Liz came out and looked really surprised not only at seeing both of them together but in fully military uniform… when she managed to open the door and gesture for them to come inside, she also spotted Sam's father coming down from the car, and she frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, nothing is wrong… but we have some news," Liz raised her eyebrow while she walked them to the living room.
"Can we …" Sam started but a look was enough to know what she was about to ask.
"Of course, he just fell asleep. Go, you both know the way. Jacob? May I offer you something to drink?" They heard Liz ask while going out towards Matt's room where currently their child was fast asleep. They opened the door slightly, just to get a peek into the room. And they sighed at the view, with a quick silent conversation they closed the door and walked back, jaws set, they decided that the kids were asleep was a good sign to proceed with what they had to do.
And that was… having the adult conversation they didn't had with Jacob or his family… yet.
"Ahm, Liz? would you mind if we call mom and dad?"
"What's wrong?" She asked again and Jack rolled his eyes.
"If we call them we will only have to explain this once" he stated matter of factly, with a frown Liz did what he asked, dialing while bringing the phone to the middle of the table so it could be on speakers.
They waited while the call connected, and wished they had a more advanced technology to call his parents, they could talk with aliens across the galaxy with an orbe, but they couldn't send a video to his parents … yet. He knew if it was for Sam, all that fancy tech would be out and about already
"Hello?" Jack's mom voice filled the room.
"Mom? Can you find dad and put the call in speaker?" they heard Liz instruct her mom and then they could hear the shuffling of the phone.
"Mom? Is dad with you?" Jack asked
"Jack?"
"Yup, and Sam and Jacob" He introduced.
"Oh, hello darling! Jacob, it's been a while. Jack dear, are you coming to visit us soon?" she quickly saluted, making all of them smile.
"We might go there in a couple of months, mom, but this is not why we called"
"Is something the matter?" his mom asked, "Honey, Jack's on the phone" they heard her talking with her husband. "I don't know! Just drag your arse over here!" she ordered making all the people at Liz house laugh, "oh! I'm sorry, did you heard that? Nevermind, he's here"
"Dad?"
"Jack!"
"Well, we have a couple news to give you. Jacob already knows two of them…"
"Jack, darling, let Sam do the talk, otherwise tomorrow will come and you will still be trying to untangle your tongue," Jack's mother pleaded making them all laugh again
"Ehm, I don't know if I will be much better"
"Non-sense, darling. Just go on," Jack's father said.
"Well… I, we… we both got promoted. Jack's a General now and I'm a Colonel," a loud clap was heard on the other side.
"Oh, that's so wonderful!"
"Yes… and, we still don't know how … but the file that has our wedding… it's been declassified."
"Are you…"
"What..."
"For real?"
Came three answers and they couldn't help but smile and nod.
"How?" Jacob asked. Then he remembered what Sam's said, "I mean… are you sure?"
"Yup, we are free to be married for real"
"Yes! Now you can have an actual wedding," Liz smiled, her eyes blurring a little which made both Sam and Jack a little bit worried about what she was thinking of
"We had a wedding," Jack clarified simply to stop her mind to floating further away.
"One with people you know, brother" Liz said rolling her eyes. "This is so amazing, congratulations!"
When the round of congratulations stopped, they looked around uncomfortably and both Jacob and Liz frowned at their reactions, eyebrows raised at the same moment, just when they both left out a simple question: "There's more, isn't there?"
"Yes…" was almost whispered by the now free couple. "I don't know how to say this… but,"
"If we want a wedding we might have to wait until I can fit a nice dress again," Sam said with a smile and Jacob looked at her as if she grew another head. "Yes, I'm pregnant"
"You what? I thought I heard you said you are pregnant?" Jacob asked incredulously
"Yup... there's a new tiny O'Neill on the way" Jack said proudly, patting Sam's belly.
"Well… congratulations!"
The surprise made impossible for Jacob to connect the dots himself, but soon Selmak did it for him and he understood that, that baby was the reason they were called, the dna checking Anise came to do was for the baby in the way, his grandchild. But even with everything that he now understood he only thing he could say was: "Holy Hannah… people is going to know I'm going to be a granpa! That I am a grandpa!" which made all the presents and vacuum land listeners laugh wholeheartedly.
"This deserves a celebration, son," Jack's father voice came from the other side of the line, "we will see if we can find some tickets to visit you. How long are you staying Jacob? It will be nice to visit you after so long"
"I don't know for sure, hopefully long enough"
"It does deserve a celebration, dad."
"Although," Sam added warily, "we still have to see what happens with us; you know, after the promotions and with my pregnancy…. Things will change"
"They might change, sweetheart, but you will be free," Jack's mom told her and she couldn't help but smile. "And your kid, both of them, will be able to spend time with both of you outside in the real world, and that… that's something I know Aidan was wishing for"
All the other adults nodded solemnly, they all had been on the other side of that conversation with Aidan, his questioning of why he couldn't be with both of his parents if it wasn't inside the house, or in Minnesota, always managed to put some weight over their shoulders. And made the couple bit their lower lips in regret.
"Don't be wrong, you did everything you could to provide for him a stable, loving, wonderful family. And he would be just as nice if things continued like they were…"
"We understand, mom. Do not worry," Jack affirmed and when he heard his mother sigh, he knew she was worried about what she left out. "We knew about his desire to have both of us at once as his friends have."
"Anyhow, we should leave now," Sam said looking at her watch, "it's kind of late and we need to be back on base tomorrow for a briefing…"
"The one where we will know what the hell are they going to do with us"
"I bet nothing bad, they know you work well together... then, why fix something that's not broken"
"Let's hope they don't," both Jack and Sam said at once. The call was soon finished and they walked again to the end of the house, this time to get their son out of bed and take him home.
"Mommy, daddy?" he asked groggily when he was being lifted.
"Don't worry, champ, we are just going home," Aidan lifted his head from Jack's shoulder enough to look at both his parents
"Together?" He asked with a little pout.
"Yes, honey, we are going home together" Sam whispered caressing his check softly.
"Awesome!" he said and felt back to sleep in the comfort of his father's arms.
SGC
Briefing room
A sense of déjà vu invaded him, he was at the Briefing room, in his uncomfortable dress blues when she stopped by the threshold separating the corridor from the meeting room. He almost expected her to say 'she's transferring from the Pentagon' but she didn't, she just walked in. And sat in front of him, with an eyebrow raised.
"Ah, just a memory," she frowned, "your first day here," and then with a small smile, she recalled that very same moment. Jacob entered a little later,
"Oh Sam, here you are, Anise is looking for you, she wants to do some tests…" A clearing of a throat interrupted the tok'ra and who turned around who see who had interrupted him. "Ryan?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Former General Jacob Carter," General Ryan said with a smile, "It's General Ryan, now. Chieff of the USAF"
"I always knew you would get far. Are you coming for the kids?" He asked pointing towards Sam and Jack with his head. His answer was a firm nod.
"I understand Colonel Carter is your daughter?" Jacob nodded, "You can stay if you want to," he offered and the eldest Carter nodded once before taking a sit. "Before we start, here's a copy of the resolution to make that mission not-classified." He said with a knowing smile to which both officers nodded, trying hard not to blush. "Now, as for your current situation…." He started but was stopped with a bright white light.
"Tor? Buddy? Whatcha doing here?" Jack asked as soon as the light cleared and they were all seeing the little grey alien.
"Greeting O'Neill. The Furlings contacted us to let us know of their deeds, we apologize for their behavior. Even when we knew what it could be done with your DNA, we couldn't force you and Major Carter to take such responsibility over your shoulders. We thoroughly regret their ways but we can't regret their success."
"Their success?" Sam asked
"Major Carter…"
"It's actually Colonel Carter now," she added frowning,
"Congratulations then Colonel Carter, and yes, their success. Before I presented myself here, I scanned your body and yes, the child in you is the carrier of what both Furlings and Asgards need to grant our survival as species. For this, if not I, Freir will come back to check upon you and the infant's condition, which I can see will be outstanding. There are no after effects of the fast growing induced by the Furlings; nor there are traits of genetics failure. The child is indeed a magnificent creature, truly halves of each of you," Yet another clearing of throat made them turn around, Tor blinked in annoyance. Yes, they could tell it was annoyance. "Yes?"
"Ah, Tor… General Ryan, Chieff of the USAF, General Ryan, this is Tor, Commander of the Asgards." Jack introduced.
"I have read lots about you, Commander, is an honor"
"I have read nothing of you General. However, if these officers are under your Command, then I can be sure you are nothing but an excellent leader"
"Ah, thank you…. I, have a question for you, not that will change our decision, but, are you positive the child within Colonel Carter was created, implanted and growth by the Furlings?"
"Yes"
"How?"
"The Furling's shared this with us, we have no reasons to doubt of their words. They also provided with memories from the Council decision and the moments that led to the implantation. Furthermore, the analysis of the child shows the way his dna is combined is to perfectly symmetrical to be nature made. Is there any other question?"
"No."
"Yes, when you say you checked the baby…"
"My newest vessel has a capability to do blood scans without need of extracting actual blood. We can do more test with actual blood if you are willing or unsure of our capabilities"
"No, no…just wondering," Jack added, "You are free to go, buddy," He added when he saw the glint in Sam's eyes after learning that much about Asgard tech.
"I will go soon O'Neill, however, we have a present for you, for the inconvenience we brought into your lives. I know at least Colonel Carter will regard it highly… as a show of an appreciation for what you are going to do for us, we want to give you as a present for the child to use and for you to study, a small Asgard vessel, which right now is as much as we can spare without compromising our situation. I will bring it when I return. Now, farewell," with that the little alien grey, disappeared leaving behind an astounded Colonel.
"Did he just gave us a vessel as a present for the child?" Sam asked astonished.
"I think he did," Jack also frowned.
"Now that things are clearer," Ryan continued, bringing everyone back to the meeting, "We know you work well together, however, things must change. Not because of the contents of that folder, but because of your new situation inside of the USAF. General O'Neill, you can't be under General's Hammond hands forever, although, for what I've been told, he will gladly let you go where this any other base. This is not a common base and you are not just an insolent officer. Therefore, and in light of the needs of Earth defense, we propose you the following: We see that SG teams are doing their best to survive out there, however we feel most of the teams were pushed through the gate unprepared. And yes, we know there was no way to prepare the first teams to go, but, we can change that for the future teams. Therefore, a training facility will be created and will work both outside and inside Cheyenne mountain. We will ask the Commander Officer of that base to organize full schedules to provide to our young and selected men and women, enough knowledge of what's going on out there and how to be prepared to fight with it. We will also, want training involving technology and trips to safe planets to contact the different allies and life forms that one can encounter out there… and we want you, General O'Neill, to be that man. We feel that, if we have to let you out of here, it should be for a place where you can share what you know and not to a place where you can only fly a desk, that's of course, until General Hammond's releases his offices. Then you will be highly considered for the position as SGC's CO. This is the proposal… you have until Friday to let us know your decision, otherwise, I'm pretty sure there's a desk job that we can find for you… somewhere"
"I'm going to check it carefully, sir" Jack said grabbing the folder.
"Now, Colonel Carter, with your promotions dates reinstated, you currently are the third in Command behind General O'Neill. With your current grade and field experience, a position as team leader was easily given. However, your current status forbids you from gate travelling, and you are currently commissioned as member of the science team." She nodded, "When General O'Neill decides his fate, then you will be second in command of this base. However, we also want to offer you a different path. We analyzed the situation of flying all the technology back to 51, and it is making a lot of noise. Therefore, along with the secondary training facility; we want to create a new scientist facility to develop and understand alien technology… and we all came to the understanding that, the best for the leader position was you. The tech facilities will report straight to SGC. There will be some missions out world to retrieve artifacts or to study the ones which can't be taken home. When those missions come up, you will be escorted by a TSG and a SG teams…" they frowned confused by the names, "Training Stargate and Stargate Teams. Colonel, this is the proposal, if you are to refuse it, then, you will continue to work as Scientist for either the SGC or commissioned to 51 according to the need"
"You mean; we can actually choose?" Jack asked. "Sir" he added belatedly.
"General O'Neill, Colonel Carter… the Tok'ra came just for you, I know he is your father and all, but they still came. He could have not if they didn't know you. The Furlings cheated to get you to carry a child for them and save them. The Asgards hold you in high esteem, so high that they come just in search of you… and the Goua'uld actually fear you. And that's part of the aliens that only recognize you as the Tau'ri. Your coworkers have nothing but kind words for you, well, kind words and a lot of ideas of what you two should be doing… for which I will love to see their faces when they finally know you've been together all this time… and last but not least, your Commander Officer, although he might be a little biased, he supports you totally. With all those references… how are we supposed to let you go without at least trying to keep you around? And yes, we know, after all these years, you might as well retire for good over having to flight half way through the country to see your child again. Aren't we right?"
"Uh, yes … sir"
"See, we can't just ley you go… you know too much and you haven't got a chance to share it. That's all I have to say… just think about it. As I said, you have time until Friday to come to a decision."
Two months later…
Despite feeling almost like a whale, Sam still was moving around as expected. She was due for a visit to SGC, since the Asgard's had let them know they would be coming to check the little O'Neill…
She stopped by Jack's office, which located currently in one of the old storage rooms at the SGC until their new building was finished. The excavation for it had already started and plans of how to connect it to the SGC underground where scattered around the room.
Engineers from around the country had presented several projects and they all laid in Jack's hands to find the most secure way of joining two underground secret facilities. Also, he had to analyze if what they were providing would be enough for the training projects he was developing for TSG's. Sam's smiled at seeing him engrossed in a folder.
"You know, not even my office looks so covered," she said, starling him.
"Hell! Sam? You scared the Jesus out of me"
"You know, this thing of being a General is making you a responsible officer," she joked.
"Nah, that thing of being in charge of all the geeks and nerds is making you … I don't even know what I was going to say" he smiled sheepishly.
When a glow involved them, and they had to blink several times to notice they were looking back at Earth from what they assumed was yet another Asgard vessel, they turned to each other and smiled brightly.
"It's time!" they both said.
"Greeting, O'Neill, Carter… are you ready to hear what we were trying to tell you since we analyzed the dna?"
"You mean the sex, right?" Jack asked somewhat confused, and Sam elbowed him subtly. Or not so subtly.
"Yes"
"Then we are…"
"Very well then, first, let me explain to you that the infant is healthy and developing in what we understand is the normal human way. The mother traits are stable, so are the father traits… the strand needed is still active," they nodded imbibing themselves in all the knowledge the small alien, Freir, gave them. Then, he turned around and in the screen they could see the dna reading, the genome mapping and the full image of their baby.
"Is that…." He asked confused and overwhelmed when the little heartbeats were heard over the vessel's audio.
"Our baby girl" Sam smiled through tears. Knowing that no one could see them and that the alien wouldn't mind, Jack kissed his wife with all his being.
"I love you, Jack," Sam said as soon as they were separated for air.
"and I you, my Sam" he said pecking her lips one last time.
And then, they were engulfed back in white light.
The End (at last)