A/N: Spent a lot of time researching pregnant women in the military for this chapter. Had a surprisingly hard time finding official documents specific to the Air Force, so a lot of what I used comes from the Navy (OPNAV instructions, section 6000.1b) If anyone who is Air Force savvy catches any errors, please let me know. I like to be as factually correct as possible, and I'm kind-of a dunderhead when it comes to things military! I also fudged a bit with the medical stuff at the end. But, in truth, anyone who knows how first-trimester ultrasounds are actually performed will forgive my creative license.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 5

Jack was sweating.

Sitting in a rented car outside a large, two-story colonial in Maryland, O'Neill tried taking deep, steadying breaths. It wasn't helping. He still felt like a teenage kid getting ready to call his dad for bail money. He did his best to swallow his nerves and climbed slowly out of the vehicle.

Hammond's home outside of DC was set in a neat, suburban neighborhood. Jack was actually a little surprised by the size of the place. General Hammond was a fairly Spartan man, and this place oozed charm. Walking up the cobblestone path to the front door, Jack had to admit he was impressed.

O'Neill took another deep breath and depressed the doorbell button. Within moments, he heard motion from inside. Almost immediately, the front door swung open, revealing a stern-faced, bald man wearing khaki slacks and a polo shirt.

"O'Neill!" The stern features softened into an expression of pleasant surprise. "What the hell brings you to my door?"

Sidestepping the issue for a moment, Jack followed the General's motion to come inside. "And what a nice door it is, sir. Never would have taken you for the better-homes-and-gardens type."

George Hammond grimaced. "Yeah. Seems I have a political obligation to look respectable while I'm working at the Pentagon. I was all but commanded to pick a nice house in the suburbs and look settled." He shrugged. "Tessa and Kayla like it, so I really can't complain," Hammond said, referring to his two granddaughters. Sensing O'Neill's discomfort, he ushered the younger man into a cheerful, spacious kitchen. "Care for some coffee? I just finished brewing a pot."

Jack nodded. "Sure, that'd be great."

Silence enveloped the room as Hammond pulled out two mugs and filled them. He set one on the table in front of O'Neill, and then took a seat opposite him. "So, why don't you tell me what's going on, son. It must be something important, to bring you across the country without so much as a phone call."

Taking a sip of the strong, steaming brew, Jack organized his thoughts. "General, what I'd like to tell you is so far off-the-record, it should have a category all its own. This is potentially career-ending stuff. So, if you'd rather not hear it, I'll finish this great cup of coffee and head back to the SGC."

George waved his hand. "O'Neill, my whole job is based on keeping secrets. I'm sure I can handle whatever you want to tell me."

Jack ran his fingers through his hair. "All right General, but I still think this needs to be kept completely unofficial."

Hammond nodded. "Then why don't you start by calling me George?"

"Seem to be doing a lot of that, lately," Jack muttered. Seeing the puzzled look on Hammond's face, he continued. "All right, George," he wrinkled his nose. Carter was right. This first-name business felt weird. "Suppose – hypothetically, of course – that a female member of the SGC became pregnant. What would you do?"

Hammond took a sip of his coffee, considering. "Well, on its own, pregnancy is not a reason to discharge someone from service. In fact, during the first 27 weeks of pregnancy, a woman cannot ask for separation from duties unless she has an exceptional medical condition that qualifies her for such. However," he continued, "the woman also has the right to an occupational medical evaluation of her work conditions, if she believes they may be hazardous to her fetus. Now, given the exceptionally unpredictable nature of life in the SGC, I'd imagine such an evaluation would provide ample cause for the woman to be removed to lighter duties."

Jack nodded. "Sure. But this all supposes the woman wants to move to light duty. What if she doesn't?"

Hammond exhaled. "Well, there's no proven fetal hazard to stargate travel." He blinked. "In truth, I'm not entirely sure we have documented cases of any pregnant woman using the gate." Rubbing his chin, he looked thoughtfully at Jack. "We could get into a load of trouble if it looked like we were discriminating against a pregnant woman. Not that anything related to the SGC would make it into the mainstream media, but a woman would certainly be within her rights to file a grievance with the Air Force if she thought she was being done a disservice. As her CO, your best bet would be to counsel her in the best interests of her child. Would this hypothetical woman be part of a scientific team?"

O'Neill shook his head. "No sir, she'd be part of an exploration team."

The older man tapped his finger on the handle of his mug. "That does make it tricky. As such, exploration teams aren't designated combat units. You, however, know better than anyone just how often those teams come under fire. I still think you'd be best advised to try to work with this woman on doing the right thing."

Jack suppressed a wince. "Well, this gets a little trickier, sir." He made a face. "I mean, George." Taking a breath, he continued. "What if, hypothetically, this woman was discovered to be carrying the child of someone in her direct line of command? And what if she had become pregnant as a direct result of an SGC mission?"

Hammond blinked. "Can't say I've ever heard of someone getting pregnant in the line of duty before." His gaze narrowed. "Are we talking sexual assault?"

O'Neill quickly shook his head. "No, nothing like that. It was a case of alien chemical exposure."

"All right, Jack," Hammond said, sounding exasperated. "Let's cut the crap. What the hell is going on?"

Jack took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Carter is pregnant." Seeing George's eyes widen in shock, he plowed ahead. "With my baby." There. He'd said it.

Instead of the explosion he'd expected, Hammond merely leaned back in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck. "And how does 'alien chemical exposure' factor into this?"

Jack sighed. "We were on a diplomatic mission. While trying to fit into local customs, we drank some evil potion that completely robbed us of any sense of judgment and supercharged our hormones. Not only that, it seemed to result in hyper-fertility. At the time, it was embarrassing, but I imagine we would have gotten past it eventually. Now, however…" he trailed off. "I have absolutely no idea where to go from here. As her CO, I'm expected to counsel Sam in her best course of action during her pregnancy. However, as the father of that baby, I can hardly be expected to remain impartial." Jack snorted. "Hell, if I had it my way, I'd find a whole other mountain to bury her under until she and that baby were safe and sound. Hardly the right attitude for an Air Force officer."

George smiled. "Perfectly understandable, though." Then he cocked his head as a thought occurred to him. "I don't suppose any reference to the… incident or the 'evil potion' was made in your briefing report?"

Jack leaned forward, resting his forehead on the table. "No, sir. Nor was it in Daniel's or Teal'c's." Looking up, he appeared defeated. "We were all trying to protect Sam."

Now it was Hammond's turn to sigh. "Well, that does present a problem. If this had been reported immediately, you might have been able to work with the military on a solution that doesn't involve a court-martial." He leaned forward and looked O'Neill in the eyes. "Son, you and Sam have some tough choices to make. If you plan on going public with the paternity of that baby, one or both of you are facing very serious career and legal issues. If you're very lucky, the president will believe your story about the alien drug, and he'll only insist on reassigning of one of you." Hammond shook his head. "I really don't see any way that the two of you can both be in the same Air Force chain of command with such a personal relationship to each other. There's no way that the mother of your child could report to you in a professional capacity. It's not ethical, and it's not safe."

Jack nodded with resignation. "Yeah, I know all that. But it just seems inherently wrong to be punished for something that never would have happened were we not doing our American duty."

George's face took on an expression of understanding. "You're right, of course. But nobody besides myself and SG-1 are going to believe that. You know as well as I do that there are political figures who've been looking to crucify you and Sam for years. This will be the perfect opportunity." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I hate to ask this, but has Sam thought of resigning her commission and working with the SGC as a civilian?"

O'Neill exhaled sharply. "I haven't asked her. In truth, I don't even want to bring it up. It's completely unfair to expect that of her. Sure, she's a scientist. But she's also a damn good military officer. It seems downright medieval to make her resign just because she's pregnant."

Hammond nodded sadly. "You're absolutely right. But, of the two of you, she has the greater career potential as a civilian in the SGC. I don't mean to belittle your service, Jack, but your value to the stargate program is almost entirely based on your military credentials and experience. She, at least, has her science to fall back on."

"True enough, but my failure to be multi-talented should hardly cost her a distinguished military career." Jack sounded disgusted.

"Now listen here, son." Hammond glared sharply at O'Neill. "I understand you want to do what's best for Sam. But you also need to consider what's best for the SGC. It may not be your number one priority anymore, but it should at least be a factor in any decisions you reach." He paused, continuing to stare at Jack with his trademark commanding presence. "No matter what you may believe, that program needs you. I shudder to think of the fiasco which would ensue if you resigned or retired. The president, no doubt, would be advised to replace you with any number of perfectly horrible people. The entire future of the SGC rests squarely on your shoulders. So, if there is any way you can be a father to your child and still execute your military duties, you should do everything possible to make it happen. Even if it's not fair to you or Sam."

Jack looked intently at General Hammond for a few moments before a small half-smile crossed his face. "Thank you, sir. I knew I could count on good advice from you."

Hammond visibly relaxed. "I hate to sound hard or uncaring, Jack. You know I have your best interests at heart. And you can count on my unending support in this matter, however it resolves itself." He returned Jack's smile with one of his own. "If I can help in any way, I will. I'd happily recommend either of you for civilian positions within the SGC. And, of course, I'll counsel the president against throwing your asses in jail."

Laughing, O'Neill leaned back in his chair. "Well, I guess that's something."

"And Jack," George's smile widened. "If I didn't say it before, let me say it now. Congratulations, son. I'm sure you must be out of your head with anxiety, but you'll do just fine."

Jack shook his head wryly. "I hope so, General. I sincerely hope so."

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Sitting in her office, Sam went over her notes on the alien device. It was Sunday afternoon, and she knew she should probably be sitting in her living room with her feet up. But every time she had a moment alone, she began obsessing over the inevitable choices she was going to have to make soon. Diving into her work was about the only thing that kept her sane. It had therefore been a very productive two weeks since she'd found out about her pregnancy.

A soft knock at her office door drew her attention. Looking up, she saw Daniel standing in the entrance. "Hi," she said. "Shouldn't you be home today?"

Daniel smiled. "I could ask you the same thing. I was just tying up some loose ends when I noticed the light on in your office." Walking in, he took a seat on an empty stool beside her workbench. "Do you want to talk about anything?"

Sam shrugged. "Well, from what I can tell, the device is–"

He interrupted. "No, Sam, I mean anything… personal."

"Oh." Swallowing, she nodded. "I suppose that might not be a bad idea."

Daniel's eyes expressed concern. "How are you feeling?"

Sam sighed. "Sick. Exhausted." She met his gaze, looking small and vulnerable. "Terrified."

He nodded. "Understandable. Have you talked with the father yet?"

"It's okay. Daniel." She smiled reassuringly. "Jack filled me in. You don't have to pretend to be clueless anymore."

Chuckling, Daniel look relieved. "Thank goodness. You have no idea how hard that was."

"Actually, I probably have some idea." Sam winced as she remembered weeks of pretending to be unaffected by what had happened on P6Y-441.

He nodded. "Yeah, I suppose you would." Pausing, he gathered his thoughts. "So, what exactly have you and Jack decided?"

Sam exhaled loudly. "Only that he wants to be there for us. We've decided to take a little time before deciding any of the specifics."

Daniel reached over and squeezed her hand. "Sam, you know I'll be there for you. Whatever you need."

She smiled gratefully. "I never doubted it, Daniel."

Taking a deep breath, he looked a little uncomfortable. "I also wanted to tell you that if there's any reason that Jack can't – or won't – be around, I'm willing to fill in. I know how impossibly difficult this is going to get, and I wanted you to know that if it would make things any easier, I'd even marry you, Sam."

Carter rocked back in her seat, completely taken aback. "Wow. Daniel, that's really…" She trailed off. "Wow," she repeated.

Daniel held up a hand. "Please don't get the wrong idea. You know how much I care about you, Sam. As a friend. My offer is simply an extension of that friendship, so please don't read anything deeper into it." He adjusted his glasses. "Besides the fact that Jack would kick my ass if I made the moves on his girl, I'd never endanger our friendship in that way."

Sam suppressed a laugh. "Okay, Daniel. Point taken. Though," she explained, "I'm not Jack's 'girl.'"

He didn't look convinced. "You're having his baby, Sam. How much more of a claim can a guy stake?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "You men must have a secret code, or something–" All at once, she broke off, eyes widening. All afternoon, she'd been feeling a dull ache in her abdomen. She had been ignoring it, figured her body was just reacting to the mountain of nachos she'd had for lunch. Suddenly, though, Sam's brain made a connection. The pain in her belly was not gastrointestinal. She was having cramps. Clutching her hand to her stomach, she looked at Daniel imploringly. "My baby!" she gasped.

Daniel didn't need further prompting. Instantly, he was on the phone with the medical staff. Within minutes, he and Sam were on their way down to the infirmary.

Doctor Brightman came into the room and looked reassuringly at Sam. "Colonel, I understand you're having some pain. Any bleeding?"

Sam shook her head, looking pale and scared. "I don't think so."

The doctor patted her hand. "Even if you were, there's no reason to panic. Bleeding and pain in the first trimester are not uncommon. Though, of course, it is scary. Why don't you pull up your shirt and we'll perform an ultrasound, just to see what's going on in there." Glancing at Daniel, she asked, "Would you like Dr. Jackson to stay?"

Sam nodded. "Please." She looked at Daniel. "I mean, if it's all right with you."

Daniel took her hand and smiled. "Of course, Sam. Whatever you want."

Without further delay, Dr. Brightman wheeled over a portable ultrasound machine. Applying some cool, sticky gel to the paddle, she gently placed it on Sam's belly. Sam watched the doctor's face anxiously. The minutes seemed to stretch into hours as Dr. Brightman carefully examined the grainy images on the screen in front of her.

Finally, Dr. Brightman looked at her patient. "Well, Colonel, I don't see a heartbeat." Sam's heart plummeted into her belly, and grief began clawing at her throat. Seeing the distress on Sam's face, the doctor quickly reached over and squeezed her hand. "Forgive me, Colonel. What I meant to say is that I don't see a heartbeat – I see two." She smiled. "Congratulations, ma'am. You're having twins."

To be continued…