The Touched

Part 14

Again, thank you all so much for the reviews, you're wonderful!
 I'm really sorry it's been so long since I updated, hope this is enough to please you all! It's short, but isn't it always with this fic! ;)

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"So, am I going to leave this room alive?" Jack asked, half joking, half fearful.

"Alive? Yes. In tact? I'm not so sure." Jacob replied so straight faced that Jack wasn't sure whether or not the older man was joking. "I'm not going to tell you that this information pleases me. Well, it pleases me a little, I won fifty bucks. Granted I won't have much of a chance to spend it where I'm going, but it's the principle of the thing." Jacob grinned at Jack's confused expression. "On the other hand, I won't say I wasn't expecting it. Hell, I wouldn't have placed the bet if I hadn't. Look Jack the point that I'm making a bad attempt of making is this. You hurt my daughter and I'll kill you. You're nice to her and you make her happy, and I might let you live."

"General, if there's one thing I think we both know about life, it's that nothing's set in stone. I can't promise that Sam'll be happy for the rest of her life, but I can promise you I'll damn well try to make sure that she is."

"Good. Now would you tell her that?" Jacob said raising his eyebrows.

"She knows."

"No, Jack, she doesn't. Why do you think she spent the last few days with us?"

"To work on her tan?"

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Sam sighed and stood up, stretching herself somewhat carefully. She still wasn't sure what to think about the fact that she was pregnant. She didn't feel any different and she certainly didn't look all that different…yet anyway. She quickly got herself dressed, absentmindedly running her hands over her stomach. It was still so strange. She had been pregnant for a short while now, and she had yet to come to terms with the whole thing. She supposed it had something to do with they way it had all happened. If she'd actually had sex and been careless then there would be a reason, this was just unreal.

Her thoughts lingered on the sex idea a moment too long and she found herself blushing, glad that the Colonel couldn't read her mind. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and instantly regretted it. A moment later she felt herself being helped onto the bed by a pair of strong arms.

"You must be careful, Samantha. You cannot presume to do thing as you have been. You must relax."

Sam smiled placed a hand on his arm, "Martouf, I appreciate your concern, but it really isn't necessary. I know that things have changed, but it'll take time to get used to it, that's all."

Martouf smiled and nodded his head, "I apologise. It is not my place to say these things."

"It's okay." Sam smiled and reached out to hug him. "I'm glad that you care enough to worry." The sound of a clearing throat made Sam pull back and look to the doorway. She almost grimaced at the look on Jack's face.

"Daniel wants to talk to us. He's deciphered more of the book." Without another stony stare at Martouf, he turned to leave.

Sam stood up and almost ran after him, "Jack, wait!"

He kept walking but slowed a little, "When did he show up?" he asked when Sam was next to him.

"He came through the gate with us. I guess things were a little too hectic to notice him."

"Guess so."

"Jack…Sir, please, stop."

Jack turned to look at her and stopped walking. He took a moment to stare at her. She was out of breath and clutching at her stomach a little. Almost instantly forgetting his anger, he placed his hands at either side of her stomach. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little cramp, I guess." She looked up at him and smiled, "Don't think that baby likes it when I run."

"Baby."

"Yeah," Sam said, a smile spreading across her face as Jack stared at her stomach in wonder.

"We're really having a baby, aren't we?" he looked up at her.

"Yes, Jack, we really are."

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Jack glared at Martouf, his arm itching to reach out to Sam and pull her against him in some primeval show of manly hood. Sam mine, you back off. The thought sounded somewhat ridiculous, even to him, but he couldn't help the twinge that he felt inside whenever the smarmy snakehead so much as looked in her general direction. He didn't like the man, and he certainly didn't trust him.

"So," Daniel's voice shook Jack out of his thoughts, "I've deciphered another page of the book. It's getting a little easier, but the dialect seems to change every sentence so t can be really time consuming…"

"Daniel."

Daniel looked up from the book, "Eh, yeah. So, anyway, I think I've found out why Sam was in pain." He picked up the book at cleared his throat. "From what I understand, it's all to do with the proximity between the parents. Because the connection that conceived the child was, well, related to love and, ahem, tenderness," Jack shifted uncomfortably, watching as Sam blushed and looked at the desk. "the child can only come to term with that bond being a continuing thing."

"I'm not sure I understand, Dr. Jackson."

"Well, it's actually quite simple, General. The bond that brought the child into being wasn't a physical one, and this bond needs to be around for the child to live. As long as the parents are together then the child will be surrounded by love. But if you remove one element of that then the child can't survive. When Sam went to be with the Tok'Ra, she was away from Jack and that caused the child to lose a part of the bond."

The entire room was silent and it took Daniel a moment to realise that he had just voiced the one thing that everyone knew but no one had voiced. Jack was the baby's father. Looking around the room, Daniel seemed almost worried at the outcome of his statement. He noticed that the General was grudgingly handing money to General Carter, that Martouf was glaring at Jack and that Janet and even Teal'c, was smiling. What caught his attention, however, was Jack. He was staring at Sam with a look of wonder and pride in his face. He was going to be a father, and he looked happier than Daniel had ever seen him…the only thing keeping him from rejoicing completely was the look Martouf was sending the father-to-be. He didn't know what was going to happen next, but he was sure of one thing. There was going to be trouble ahead.

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END PART 14

Thank you again, for the lovely reviews. I'm really glad that you're all still enjoying this! Hope things are still interesting…and please don't behead me for the Martouf thing! It's a part of the plot, honest! ;)