AN: One more to go after this. Guesses on how this story ends?

Chapter 11

Three days later, Sam was still silent and emotionally shut off from them. Teal'c was about to offer to stay with again during breakfast then frowned. "O'Neill. I wish to take my breakfast with the other members of the household today." He said firmly.

"Uh... sure T… I'll stay here." Jack said, cutting his eyes to Sam's room.

"I cou— ow!" Daniel hissed the last as Teal'c scraped Daniel's shin with the side of his large booted foot.

"O'Neill will remain with Samantha, Daniel Jackson." He said sternly to his younger friend and clapped a hand on Daniel's shoulder to steer him out of the room.

Sam was laying on her bed halfway in the fetal position facing the wall again. She'd been examined by the doctor and she and the baby were fine. He'd asked if she wanted him to be with her during her examination and she'd emphatically shook her head but her 'no' was soft with resignation.

Jack felt very left out frankly. He wanted to be part of this… but he supposed if she didn't want the baby… she didn't want him getting attached either. Well it was too damned late for that.

Jack watched her lay there for several moments before his fist balled as he screwed up his courage and walked into her room and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Carter…"

"I don't want company, sir." She said in a flat emotionless voice… but there was an edge to it… one he recognized. She was fighting tears.

"Sam…"

But all Sam did was sniffle once softly.

'That's it!' he decided. He leaned towards her and pulled her into his embrace.

"Dammit, Jack, I said— "

"Shut up, Carter. I haven't gotten you to say three words to me in days. You can go another five minutes." He said in frustration as he slid his head down onto her shoulder and just held her until she started sobbing quietly… and kept holding her until the sobs stopped.

"I'm sorry, sir…"

"Sam, you have nothing to be sorry for. You didn't do anything wrong." He told her and tilted her face to look him in the eyes. "I should have tried harder to not have any accidents. I should have found a way out sooner. I shouldn't have let us get caught in that sweep in the first place. I— "

"Stop it sir. I get it." She sighed. "It's too late."

"Uh… too late for what?"

"I talked to the doctor that examined me. I'm further along than we thought. It's too late to safely abort."

"I see." He said, pain in his eyes and voice.

"I'm sorry I'm sticking you with a child you didn't plan for and didn't wan— "

He'd pressed his lips to hers. It was a gentle kiss, mouth closed. Meant more to distract her than anything else. "Sam, I wasn't expecting to be a parent again. That doesn't mean I don't want this baby we've created. We'll figure something out." He sighed. "You might have to hold out until they let me out of the pokey though before you have full time parental childcare. I have enough savings to cover full time childcare for you so you can go back to work until they let me out." He rested his forehead on hers. "I know you didn't really want kids, Sam. I'll make this as easy for you as I can."

She looked at him confused. "Not want… Jack, what are you talking about?"

He gave her a perplexed frown. "Ah… I see." He deduced it was him she didn't want kids with.

But Sam for a change understood the self-flagellation he was performing on himself. "Jack?"

Jack's eyes shifted down and to the left. A behavior she'd long ago recognized as he was about to tell her what he thought she wanted to hear.

"Don't you dare." She warned him.

"Dare what?" He asked, eyebrows up.

"Don't you dare spin some bullshit at me, sir. We've been through too much for you to start lying to me again about your feelings." He hadn't, not really, but he'd been very tight lipped about them from time to time. It had started the night on his roof their second year together when he'd jokingly kissed her and it had turned heated and full of need almost immediately. They had agreed they both knew why things were that way and it was best to just not bring it up… and future kisses ended up slow and full of regret after that. After the Za'tarc incident when they were forced to admit why in front of Janet and Teal'c, they kissed less and didn't speak of it at all. But the feelings hadn't gone away. If anything her feelings had solidified from that delightful rush of heart pounding excitement to a sort of slow burn that made her dream of loving him in the night and take extra pains on those next mornings to be professional.

"Look it's one thing to have a thing for someone and another to make kids with them. I get it."

She shook her head. "This again? Did you forget I have access to your personnel file or something?"

Jack at least had the decency to blush as his mouth puckered into a lopsided moue.

"If this war hadn't gone on so long I would have…"

"Would have what, Carter? Transferred out of my command? Retired? Thrown yourself at me? Why waste yourself like that?"

It was Sam's turn to frown in frustration. Especially as she was in his lap still and she could feel him pressing urgently against her bottom. She looked at her watch that the Administrator had somehow retrieved. They had their weapons too though they were locked up somewhere in the house. "Oh, screw this, we have half an hour." She said and started tugging at the hem of her shirt.

"Carter!" Jack managed to squeak out as her shirt was tossed away and her bra followed it.

Turning in his arms, Sam ignored his objection and shoved him backward on the bed. "Get your clothes off already. We're on a timetable." She was now straddling him and untying the cord cinching his loose linen pants.

Jack groaned and pulled his shirt over his head though, unable to resist her.

Half an hour later, Daniel and Teal'c returned to a silent suite until they heard a snort followed by a relatively quiet snore coming from Sam's room. Both of them recognized that as Jack's snore and gave each other a knowing look.

"I will check on them." Teal'c told Daniel who'd been traumatized enough by listening to them make love for months on end.

Daniel nodded.

Teal'c poked his head in the open door. Retreated to grab the blanket off Jack's bed and returned to cover them both as they were snuggled on her bed, Sam was sprawled across Jack, her golden hair in disarray, Jack had an arm wrapped around Sam, his fingers spread across her hip, his face buried in her shoulder. He smiled slightly after covering them and returned to the main room.

"They are asleep and appear to have settled their differences for now."

"Well, that's a relief. It was starting to get a little too General Hospital soap opera around here for my taste." Daniel grumbled as he picked up a book that had been on the shelf.

"Indeed."

Sam was still somewhat subdued after that evening but Jack set up camp in her room at night. They were thankfully discreet at least in Daniel's opinion. The walls were thick and the doors closed firmly. That wasn't to say he wasn't happy for them but he hadn't had a date in two years and it was kind of distracting hearing your friends in the throes of lovemaking next door.

After two weeks as the Administrator's guests, he requested they join him in his office at the back of the house.

"Please… sit. I have news."

Jack pulled out a chair for Sam and stood behind her, a hand protectively on her shoulder. Daniel and Teal'c found chairs to sit in.

Londaris rested his elbows on his desk and steepled his fingers. His hair had glints of silver mixed with the nearly solid black and they glittered in the late morning light streaming in. "There is a transport for you docked in port. We will need to get you there discreetly and pay the captain to fly 'off course' as they say on accident. At which point, he will falsify a malfunction and take you wherever you wish to go. Your own planet or an allied planet of your choosing. I'd prefer you did not tell me which. If something goes wrong, the less I am able to tell them the better should the topic come up.

"The staff are gathering your things and will take them to the ship before you arrive. Your quarters will very austere but serviceable. Our ships can travel about a thousand parsecs per day."

"Sir, that means we will be home in two weeks." Sam told Jack.

Jack patted her shoulder. He'd done the math in his head too. "We'll need snacks." Was all he said.

Daniel gave him an exasperated look.

"For Carter." Jack insisted. "She's pregnant."

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"While the servants pack your things, Miss Carter, would you like a final check-up?"

Sam nodded. "Yes, thank you."

Londaris tapped a button on a console. "Helis, Miss Carter would like a quick check up before she takes a small trip."

"I will be prepared for her, Administrator."

"Excellent." He tapped the console again. "At your leisure, ma'am."

Sam stood and looked at Jack. "Well?" she finally said.

"You're sure?"

She smiled softly at him. "Really?"

His eyes twinkled with amusement and he followed her out. She knew the way.

After they had left the room, Londaris looked at Daniel and Teal'c. "Will what has happened cause them difficulties?"

"Probably." Daniel admitted.

"I will do what I can. I had planned to butcher that pig but perhaps instead I will wring a confession out of him and his head medical officer first. Is there a way I might contact your people after you have left?"

"You don't have a Stargate but you could go to one of our secure bases and present your case."

"Would it not be wise to give him a note, Daniel Jackson?"

"Oh! Yah good idea, Teal'c. Do you have some paper and a pen? There's this guy, his name is Lou Feretti. You tell them you won't talk to anyone else when you get there. He'll recognize my handwriting. Especially if you give him an empty box of tissues."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Inside joke. One only he's going to get and he will know for sure it's me."

Londaris looked at Daniel rather quizzically but passed over a pad of paper and a pen.

"She's healthy and doing well, Miss Carter." The nurse said to her as she ran a scanner over Sam's abdomen. "You should be able to have a safe vaginal birth."

"Thank you for checking." Sam said.

The nurse smiled. "First pregnancies are always scary. No matter how much you read and prepare yourself even if you've had loads of pregnant friends, cousins, and aunts, the first one for yourself is scary."

Sam nodded and Jack squeezed her hand. "So have you thought of any names yet, Carter?" he asked her.

Sam bit her lip. "How do you feel about Janet Grace?"

Jack looked down as tears pricked his eyes. Once he had control of the painful emotions on his face he smiled at her. "I think it's perfect." The glowing smile she gave him said she knew he was being honest. They had all loved Janet so much it was only right to honor her memory this way.

The nurse smiled at them both. Clearly the name was special to them. Someone who was loved, family. "I believe with parents as loving as hers, Janet Grace is going to be a very lucky girl."

Jack nodded gravely. That remained to be seen. There was that likelihood of being arrested. "Carter, let's go back to our rooms for a bit. I need to talk to you about something."

She nodded. "All right."

When they reached their suite, Teal'c and Daniel weren't back yet but probably would be soon so they didn't have much time.

"Sam, there's a pretty high probability someone will have it in for me enough to put me in the crosshairs." He gave her the sternest look he could manage. "You're going to let them, Sam. You're going to let them arrest me and you're going to let them try me."

Sam's expression became mutinous.

Jack put up a finger. "The most they can give me is two years, Sam. Well and yank my retirement but I've got plenty of money saved up. We'll be okay without my pension… Sam, if you act like a willing participant they will send us both up the river and then who's going to take care of our daughter?"

Sam shook her head. "Jack…"

"Sam, it has to be this way. I can't stand the idea of you giving birth alone in a prison."

She glared up at him. "Why are you sacrificing yourself again? They don't have a leg to stand on. We've been MIA for over eighteen months."

His hands came up and cupped her face gently. "I'll be all right, Sam. It's not my first trip to jail you know."

She bit her lower lip trying not to laugh at his poor excuse for a joke. They had been tossed in a hole more times than she could easily count off the top of her head.

He wrapped her into a heartfelt hug. "I'm an old man- Carter. I can only handle worrying about one thing at a time."

This time she did chuckle. It was watery but there and her arms tightened around him.

Their cabin was small. It had four bunks and little else. Everyone's mood was subdued. They wanted to go home but no one for a moment didn't think some of their remaining enemies would be out to get them.

Jack had Sam give the pilot coordinates for the Alpha Site. They would hail the base from orbit before they were sent down on a shuttle. Jack really didn't feel like getting his ass shot off.

"When we hit planet fall, I want Dr. Harris to give you a check-up right away, Sam." Jack told her.

"What do you want me to say if he asks who the father is?" She asked him archly.

"Tell him you're there for a checkup not the bloody Spanish Inquisition." Jack snarled.

"Ok... touchy subject." Daniel said under his breath.

"Which reminds me… not one of you is to try to protect me from any bright ideas NID gets. You got it?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Jack?"

"You know damn well they have been looking for a way to get rid of me for years. If they've got me, they might leave Sam alone." Jack admonished him.

Daniel frowned but he knew Jack was right. He didn't have to like it though. "Fine." Daniel told Jack, a clear sulk in both his body language and expression.

Later that evening Daniel found Jack on an observation deck staring literally out into space. He leaned on the rail next to him. They didn't speak for a long time.

Finally Jack broke. "Spill it."

"Londaris is going to try to get proof you and Sam are innocent of wrongdoing. He's got a note for Lou from me when he has it." Daniel never took his eyes off the view while he said this but he covertly watched the pained expression on Jack's face in the reflection in the transparent pane.

"What the hell is that supposed to accomplish?"

"This isn't your fault." Daniel said simply.

"That isn't going to matter to Kinsey."

"So what? You finally get a second chance and you throw it away? For what, Jack?" Daniel asked him in frustration.

"To protect Carter." Jack told him softly.

Daniel's stomach bottomed out. "Oh."

"If they get me they might leave her alone."

Daniel nodded slowly. Now he understood Jack's actions perfectly. It was always about protecting Sam. He patted Jack's arm a couple times and sighed. They stared out at the whirl of light outside the ship together in silence after that.