"We could leave the Christmas lights up 'till January. This is our place, we make the rules. And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear. Have I known you twenty seconds, or twenty years?"

Jack watched as Daniel and Teal'c left his home for the second time in two days. In all, it had been a fun night, though he would kill for some alone time with Sam. Janet and Cassie lingered a little longer, excited about the wedding plans, and promising to pick up Sam and Sharlynn early tomorrow afternoon for dress shopping. Jack wasn't allowed to go, but Sharlynn had said she'd bake the cake - and she was quite a baker - so he was in charge of picking up the long list of ingredients Sharlynn would need for the cake while the girls tried on dresses. Eventually Janet dragged Cassie to her car, and it was just Jake and Sharlynn.

"Sam, would you mind if I stayed at your house for the night?" Jacob asked as the door swing shut. "All of my earth clothes are in your spare room."

"Of course not, Dad. Do you want me to take you?" Sam asked. She was looking pretty tired, and Jack knew the last few days had taken a toll on her.

"Oh no, that won't be necessary Sam. I think you should probably stay here, you look pretty exhausted." Jacob replied, kindly.

"You know what?" Sharlynn said, with just a little too much cheer. "I'll take you."

"That sounds like a great plan!" Jacob said, a little too eagerly.

Jack looked between the two of them. They weren't exactly subtle, but he'd take it.

"Well then, I guess it's settled. Jacob, we'll see you tomorrow. Shar, we'll see you…"

"Tomorrow. It's pretty late so I think I'll just crash at Sam's house too." Sharlynn might as well have winked when she said it.

They said their goodbyes quickly, and headed off on their way. When the door closed behind them Sam turned to Jack, snickering.

"Subtle." Sam said.

"Oh yeah. But appreciated." Jack said, smiling down at her. "Now tell me, how are you actually doing?"

"To be honest, Sir - Jack - it's all a bit… overwhelming."

"That's one way to put it." Jack replied, wincing.

"Now don't get me wrong, I'm happy about the turn of events. It's just…"

"Would've been nice to have a say?"

"Yeah. Or maybe a normal pregnancy. Also, it feels like everyone is treating me like I'm breakable now. I mean, I get it, it's a very unusual turn of events, and this isn't like… well, it's not even like I have months to plan and get used to the idea of being a mother. I barely have weeks. And there's so much to think about," Sam stopped talking, and gave him a look. One that said she didn't know what to do, or how to feel, or how to deal with any of it,

"C'mere." He pulled her into a hug, burying his nose in the crook of her neck. "We'll deal with this together, I promise. And we'll talk about everything. All of it. We'll come up with a game plan, make a list, take bets."

Sam giggled into his shoulder before he pulled away to look her in the eyes again. He kept his hands on her shoulder as he spoke to her, searching her eyes for the answer he needed most right now.

"More importantly, Sam. Are you sure you want to do this? We can still call Sorteria back and have her terminate the pregnancy. You don't have to marry me. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

She smiled at him softly as she reached up to cup his cheek.

"Jack, whatever conflict I'm having now has nothing to do with having this baby, or marrying you. I may be struggling with the situation, and this is honestly all happening so fast I'm not even sure where to start… and it's going to take some time to get used to, but it's given me the one thing I wanted most. The one thing I never thought I'd get to have."

"And that thing would be…" he teased.

She laughed at him, rolling her eyes.

"You're sure?" He asked one more time, just to be positive.

"I'm sure."

He grinned, cupped her cheek, leaned in, kissing her slowly as he savored the moment. This would never get old. Then he lifted her onto his hips, and carried her into his room, trailing kisses along her lips, neck, and jawline as he went.

—

Sam awoke around 03:00, wrapped in the arms of her lover. The night before had been better than she'd ever dared imagine. She'd always known somewhere deep down that once she'd had Jack there'd be no going back. And now here she was, curled up in his arms feeling safe and secure. But there was another nagging emotion she couldn't quite shake; fear.

It had been there since Sorteria arrived two days ago. Two days ago when she found out she was the equivalent of 8 weeks pregnant. Today made ten weeks, and every day that passed, the fetus she carried grew another week. She was terrified of what this would do to the baby. Terrified what this would do to her body. Terrified she might not be ready, or possibly even, that she might not survive it. A forty day pregnancy just didn't seem like something a human body should be able to survive. And that brought on a new fear; what if she died and left Jack having to raise a baby all on his own? Or even worse, what if he lost both of them?

And then there was the issue of preparing. Most people had nine months to prepare for a baby. They had less than thirty days, and they hadn't even discussed where they were going to live. And now there was even a whole wedding to plan - something most people took six months to two years to plan, and she had to do it in days. Janet was planning a baby shower for a week after the wedding, and with everything they had to deal with, Sam was beginning to feel a sort of existential dread weighing her down. Except, for now, she was wrapped up in the arms of one Jack O'Neill, and that seemed to make all of the stress and fear and anxiety go away. But damn it, if she didn't have to pee like a racehorse.

She laid there in his comforting embrace for as long as she could stand it, but eventually her full bladder won. She sighed and slowly pulled herself out of his grasp, careful not to wake him. She grabbed his t-shirt and slipped it over her head as she made her way into the bathroom.

She finished her business and washed her hands, fully intending to return to Jack's waiting arms. She was hit with a sudden wave of emotion, the likes of which she'd never experienced before. Next thing she knew, she was crumpled on the floor crying hysterically with no explanation as to why. Jack found her not long after her breakdown, picked her up, carried her back to bed, and rocked her until she cried herself back to sleep.

—

The next time Sam woke up she was in bed by herself. It was 06:30, and she could hear Jack rummaging in the kitchen. More than that she could smell what he was making as though it were right by her nose. She was filled with a hunger the likes of which she hadn't experienced since Anise used SG-1 to test the Atanik armbands. She climbed out of bed and found a clean pair of underwear and some sweats to pull on under the shirt she had slipped on in the wee hours of the morning. She pulled up her shirt to look at her stomach, wondering what she was supposed to look like at ten weeks. If anything, she just looked a tad bloated. She touched her abdomen curiously, before pulling down the shirt and heading into the kitchen. When Jack saw her he dropped what he was doing and rushed to her side. She smiled at him feebly.

"I'm fine." She reassured.

"You're sure? You don't regret…"

"No! God no. I don't know what that was this morning. It was like… all of these emotions just came out of nowhere…" she looked up at him, but he still looked worried. Worried he had taken advantage of her.

"Jack." She said, capturing his eyes to show her certainty for what she was about to say. "Last night was one of the best nights of my life. I will never regret that. Never."

He explored her eyes for a moment before he nodded to show he believed her. Then he smiled, clasped his hands together, and said "Well then, how about some protein?"

"God yes. I am starving. You remember that time we each had four steaks at O'Malley's?"

"Yes. If I recall we also started a brawl."

"Well, this is worse."

"Guess I'll have to get more eggs." He joked, pulling a plate from the cabinet and piling some food on it.

"Jack?" She asked, tentatively.

"Hmm?" He replied as he handed her a plate filled with eggs, bacon, and toast.

"How did you know…" she trailed off, wondering how to phrase it. How did he know what? That she was crumpled on the bathroom floor sobbing uncontrollably for no explainable reason?

"The cuff woke me up. It was vibrating, and I didn't know why, but then I heard you crying and… I think it knew." He shrugged.

"You think the cuff knew I was crying?" Sam asked dubiously.

"No, I think the cuff knew you were in distress." He said, looking like he barely believed himself. "Is that crazy?"

"Maybe. I'll have to look over Anise's notes and see if there's anything about that."