Author's Note: More of a fluff chapter/filler, just so you all know. Didn't want to dive right in; besides, they need to bond more or something...


o0o


Chapter Ten

They didn't see each other much for the rest of the workday. Sam still was wanting Vala's help in the science labs, so she was there the whole workday with the exception of meals. Meals were the only time they saw each other during the day. During lunch, Daniel had watched Vala amusingly as she scarfed down bowl after bowl of that stupid canned chicken soup. If she wasn't more careful, Mitchel and Teal'c were going to catch on. He was relieved she was eating, even if it was disgusting canned chicken soup that was full of who knows what, but it was food.

When the normal quitting time came, Daniel, probably for the first time ever, shut down his lab, quickly changing into his civies before he headed to pick up Vala. At lunch Sam had mentioned that she wasn't able to take Vala off base, aka to his house, so he and Vala had agreed that he'd pick her up at the end of the day. When he got to Sam's lab, she and Sam were completely enthralled with the device in front of them and didn't notice him come in. He leaned against the doorframe and watched the two of them work, particularly Vala. A smile played on his lips as he watched how she interacted with Sam and the device – so confidently, which wasn't surprising since Vala had experience with array of technology out in the galaxy. It amazed him just how well she fit in here with Sam and the rest of the brainiacs but could still translate an obscure, old dialect of Goa'uld better than him; hell, she was good multiple languages, and her experience came in handy whether it was a piece of technology or an unfamiliar language.

"Daniel," Sam said in slightly surprise, and caused Vala to glance at him, "what're you doing here?"

"Vala and I made plans," he reminded Sam but stared at Vala as he spoke, "Ready to go?" he asked her.

Vala's brows shot up in disbelief and she peeked at her watch. "Now?" she tried to clarify and when he gave a nod, her surprise doubled. "Daniel, it's early, like really early. You never leave this early."

"It's the normal quitting time around here," he defended lightly.

"One that you've never taken before," Sam interjected.

"Never had a reason to before," was his response.

Sam grinned and shook her head before turning her attention to the device. "Go, I got this," she told Vala.

Vala gingerly stood, still seeming unsure or confused – probably both. "I didn't think we'd be leaving this early," she confessed, "give me a few minutes to gather some things from my room and change into something else." She didn't wait for a reply before she left the lab.

Daniel waited in his same spot and looked at Sam. "How was she today?" he inquired, "Was she able to eat more? Did she get sick more than usual?"

Sam snorted but didn't look away from her work. "You know, you could ask her all this and not go through a third party."

"I feel like I would get a more honest answer from you."

"Well, she seemed better today; ate a little more now that she's found something she can tolerate."

Daniel groaned. "The freaking soup," he complained, "Why couldn't it have been something more nutritious? Why a canned soup filled with preservatives and artificial flavoring?"

"It won't be forever and it's food for now; be thankful," Sam pacified, "To answer your other question, she wasn't as sick as she was the last few days, and yes, she's staying hydrated."

Daniel sighed lightly. "That's good to hear. Thanks for looking out for her."

"You make it sound like she can't take care of herself."

"That's not what I meant," he denied, "I know she can, I just…I worry."

"I know," Sam assured him gently and switched topics, "So, what are you two doing?"

"I'm taking her back to my place; we're going to…talk," he answered and rushed on to say, "and don't worry, I won't be an ass like last time, and I'll do my best to keep the yelling to a minimum, but I'm aiming for none."

"Good," Sam's tone was firm, "Just remember, this is a shock for her as well, and she's still reeling from the revelation of it, and that's not even mentioning how her last pregnancy turned out."

Daniel remembered his earlier conversation that morning with Vala and how scared she was that the Ori may have messed with her body when they created Adria. "Yeah," he sighed out and rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't about to get into that part of it; Vala probably didn't want Sam to know that just yet. "Still not entirely sure how it happened myself," he commented offhanded.

Puzzled at his words at first but then it dawned on Sam that Vala never mentioned the theory they came up with when Sam confronted Vala about the pregnancy. Though Sam couldn't blame the woman; when would Vala have had time to present the theory during Daniel's self-righteous speech? "Vala didn't tell you," Sam stated.

Daniel's browns scrunched. "Tell me what?"

"I think I might have an idea why her birth control didn't work."

"Sam, birth control fails, it happens. That's most likely how this happened."

"Yes, I agree; her birth control did fail, but I don't think it was just a fluke or Vale being in that small percentage."

Daniel started to get apprehensive. Sam thinking it wasn't just one of those things had him worried. "What? Why do you think that?"

"Based on what Vala's told me about that night – no not that part – it led me to think otherwise. I think something about the second moon, along with an herb she told me about, somehow changed her body's chemistry and rendered her birth control ineffective. She mentioned that the herb becomes sweet only when the second moon is out, and she also said that night was slightly foggy for her, which leads me to believe it at least did something to her."

"Us," Daniel corrected quietly, causing Sam to look at him questioningly, "The night wasn't perfectly clear for me either. I mean, I remember enough, but a lot of it is a bit of a blur."

"Really?" intrigued, Sam leaned forward, "Did it feel like you were drunk or buzzed?"

"No," Daniel shook his head, "not really. Not sure if I can accurately describe how I felt. Do you think we were drugged or something?"

"Well, the herb could have medicinal purposes which could be why the night was blurry, so it's a possibility," she theorized, "Carolyn should have ran blood samples from you both for your post mission checkup. Did she ever mention anything looking abnormal?"

"No, we all had clean bills of health; nothing out of the ordinary."

Sam hummed thoughtfully. "You said they were a peaceful planet, right?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, "but even if they weren't, what could they possibly hope to gain by drugging me and Vala? I know Mitchel and Teal'c were fine; I asked after we got back – discreetly, of course."

"I don't know either, Daniel," Sam shrugged, "but it looks like you two were…targeted, for the lack of a better word, and we probably should figure out why."

"Does it really matter now?" he questioned, "I mean, what's done is done and she's already pregnant."

"Are you serious?" Sam asked in disbelief, "You want to let this go? You don't want to know why?"

"What I want is to make things right with Vala," Daniel replied, "What I want is to move forward and prepare for the big changes that are about to happen, personally and professionally. I don't have time to contemplate what could've possibly happened to us or why. I just want to get to a good place with Vala so we can build a better relationship for our child's sake."

Sam looked at him thoughtfully and sighed when she realized she wouldn't be changing his mind anytime soon. "Okay," she reluctantly agreed, "but you know once you tell everyone about the pregnancy, these questions will come up again and you may be forced to investigate them."

Daniel grudgingly admitted to himself that she was probably right, but hopefully he and Vala had a week, hopefully two, before they got into that. He wasn't sure how long Dr. Lam would keep it quiet – he probably should check with her about that – but he didn't imagine it would be long before everyone on base knew. He just hoped that by the time it did become public knowledge, he and Vala would be in a good place and on the same page when it came to the baby. One could only hope. "You're right, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Before Sam could comment, Vala reappeared with her overnight bag in her hand. She looked between the two before speaking. "I'm ready whenever you are."

Sam waved and gave a smile. "Have fun and good luck."

Daniel grabbed the bag from Vala's hand and motioned for her to take the lead. They both bid goodbye to Sam as they walked away.


o0o


They didn't talk on the way to his apartment; instead, they sat in a comfortable silence. The silence was only broken after they had entered Daniel's small house when he told her he was going to put her stuff in the master room and that he'd take the guest room.

"Daniel, no," Vala protested, "we agreed on me taking the guest room. I'll be fine there."

"The master has a more comfortable bed than the guest room, trust me," he reasoned with a smile, "It also has an attached bathroom in case you get sick."

"I can guarantee that I will at some point."

"Then all the more reason to take it. The bathroom in the master is closer. Please take it."

Vala stared him down before she sighed and agreed. "Thank you."

She settled on the couch as he dropped her stuff in his room. She was worried about this talk and where it would lead. There last few attempts at communicating had been better, but she was afraid that once they started talking about that night on Elgara, Daniel would do what he normally did when things got to close to him, emotionally that is. She wasn't sure if he was ready for any of this; the baby, her, all of it. While she didn't expect for them to become a couple, she didn't think he was ready for a relationship with anyone, much less her. He had spent close to a decade being alone, longer if you counted the time before Sha're died, and that had been his choice since he claimed he was never ready to move on and risk being hurt again. While she was madly in love with him, he probably would never be with her and one of her greatest fears was that he'd only try to make a relationship work with her because of the baby.

Vala didn't think she could survive that. She wanted Daniel in their child's life, but she also wanted him to be with her because of her and not the baby and she wasn't certain Daniel would be able to make that discernment.

"You okay?" Daniel's gentle voice broke into her thoughts.

She turned to him and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine."

He took a seat beside her. "Sooo," he stretched out the word and fidgeted awkwardly, amusing Vala to no end, "how do you wanna do this? Dinner first, talk first, or some combination of both?"

"I'm not sure," she answered honestly with a small shrug.

"Are you hungry right now?"

"That depends," she smiled at him, "what are you planning for dinner? You did promise to cook for me."

"Well, I have an idea," he disclosed, "but are you craving anything particular? I wanna make sure you'll eat it and that it won't cause anymore morning sickness."

"Why do you people call it morning sickness? It happens at any and all times of the day so it makes no sense," Vala noted offhandedly, "To answer your question, I'm not sure; anything would probably be fine as long as it's not to pungent, rich, or flavorful."

"First, no idea why it's called that; it just is, and second, noted. I think I know what to make," he got up, "I'll get started now; it'll take close to an hour before it's done."

Vala slowly stood and followed him to the kitchen and watched as he grabbed ingredients from all around his kitchen. "What're you making?" she asked from the doorway, "and can I help?"

Daniel glanced at her before setting down some vegetables onto the counter and laying a knife next to them. "You can cut these up if you want; just make sure you wash them first."

Vala did as instructed and washed the vegetables before beginning to cut them while Daniel grabbed a pot and added stuff to it. "You didn't answer; what are you making?"

"Well, since you seem so fond of the chicken noodle soup Rosie's been serving you, I thought I'd make you some from scratch. It's an altered recipe so it won't take as long but it will take longer than heating up a can of the stuff you like."

"Thank you," she smiled at him in appreciation. He was trying, he really was.

"Don't thank me yet; you may hate it and end up throwing it up."

"You mean the baby would hate it," she corrected with a coy smile, "right now, he's seems to be calling the shots."

"You call the baby a he," Daniel noted softly.

"No thanks to you. Tomorrow I'll probably be calling it a she without even noticing."

Daniel chuckled as he cut up left over chicken to add to the soup. "Do you have a preference?"

Vala paused in her cutting and she looked down the vegetables. "I don't know. I don't think so. I just want it to be okay and to be born healthy."

He stopped what he was doing and came up from behind and hugged her, her back to his front. "Our child will be okay; nothing will happen to it."

"I don't know why, but I believe you when you say stuff like that," she confessed quietly.

"It's 'cause you know that I wouldn't lie to you, not about this, and you trust me when I say it."

"I trust you more than anyone else in the universe, Daniel."

It was true and he felt the weight of that trust, never wanting to break it. For a moment there, he almost had and he'd be damned if he ever let it happen again.