Author's Note: There's a reference to nursing in this chapter, just so you know – and there probably will be a few more as the story goes on.

OOOOOOOOOO

Cassie called Sam's name softly through the privacy curtain, unsure if she was awake and not wanting to bother her if she was sleeping. Sam heard her, though and called for her to come on in – although she did it softly as well, since Jacob had fallen asleep in her arms, content to be close to his mother's warm body and listening to her heartbeat.

Cassie moved the curtain aside and came over to the bed, her eyes on the blanket wrapped form in Sam's arms, and Sam smiled a welcome.

"Oh, he's so tiny…"

Sam nodded, and moved the blanket a little so Cassie could see him better.

"Your mom's given him a clean bill of health, though," she said. "Want to hold him?"

Cassie shook her head, putting her hands behind her back. Hold him? Heck no! He was so small she'd probably break him!

"He's sleeping," she said, not wanting to give away her real anxiety. "I can wait until later."

Like when he's five.

Sam smiled; not at all fooled, but willing to let her baby sleep. He had been passed around a lot already that day – although she understood that everyone wanted to see and hold him.

"How do you feel?" Cassie asked, curiously. "Mom didn't tell me what happened, only that you had the baby early. How did it happen?"

Before Sam could even start to answer that, the curtain moved again, and Jaffer's head came peeking in, his brown eyes cheerfully greeting both of them. The black lab checked out the bed, made sure there was room for him, gave Sam a chance to realize he was going to hop up so she could tighten her hold on Jacob, and then hopped up onto the foot of the bed before moving up and whuffling the baby in her arms.

"The briefing must be over," Sam said, watching to see if Jacob was going to be woken up by the soft noises Jaffer was making. The lab wasn't actually touching the baby – although Sam wasn't worried he'd hurt him. Jaws and teeth that had easily killed in the past weren't a danger to Jacob, and she knew it. Jacob didn't even seem to notice; or if he did, then he didn't give any sign of it, because he didn't even make a noise, and he certainly wasn't going to wake up from his nap.

Cassie watched as Jaffer sniffed the baby and then flopped down next to Sam, apparently satisfied that all was well with the world.

"Did Ian really deliver him?"

Sam nodded. But again, before she could start in on the story, the curtain moved again and Jack poked his head in, smiled to see Sam awake, and came in. He walked over to Cassie first, and gave her a hug from behind, and then moved around the bed to sit on the other side of Sam, smiling a soft greeting and looking down at their baby.

"Hi, Jack."

"Hi, Cass. You missed the birthday party."

She made a face.

"I know."

"I think there's some cake left over – if the Marines didn't keep it for themselves."

"I promised-"

The curtain moved aside once more, and Janet came in, wearing a slightly annoyed expression – which Sam and Cassie didn't understand although Jack did.

Janet had just been trying to get Ian to wake up enough to get him changed into something a little more comfortable to sleep in – scrubs – and had found him to be just as stubborn then as he had been earlier with Jack. Eventually, she'd left him with a couple of her corpsmen and had told them to get him changed and into bed and let him sleep off whatever it was that had him so wiped out. Then she'd come looking for Sam.

"Is he sleeping?" She asked, losing the annoyed look fairly quickly when she saw the baby. Babies did that to people, after all.

Sam nodded.

"Do you want to wake him up and see if he'll nurse?"

Cassie made a face. This wasn't really something she wanted to watch, and probably was something best left for Sam and Jack and her mom to do alone.

"I think I'll go see how Ian's doing."

"He's sleeping," Janet said, smiling, because she knew why Cassie was so quick at making her escape – and for once it had nothing to do with the cadet. "They should have him in bed by now."

"I'll go see."

She got up and left, making sure the curtain was closed, but she noticed Jack didn't bolt from the area like she'd almost expected him to. More power to him, she decided, going over and asking one of the other doctors where Ian was.

They'd put him on the end. And had drawn the curtains around him as well. Not so much for privacy, but to keep from having him disturbed by noises around the room. When Cassie walked up to the bed, though, she noticed he looked like he was sleeping so soundly it would take a stampede of water buffalos to wake him up.

OOOOOOOOOO

He had only been in the bed for moments it seemed before he felt a hand touching his shoulder, and he was vaguely aware that the hand was soft and tender. He mumbled something even he couldn't understand, hoping it wasn't Sam coming to wake him up again, because he wasn't sure he'd be able to even open his eyes for her this time. He was so tired.

"Ian?"

It wasn't Sam's voice. Even sleep-fogged, he had no trouble recognizing voices, and Cassie's was definitely one he knew well. Forcing himself to move, he rolled from the position he'd been on (lying on his belly) to a new one (lying on his side) so he could look up at her. Only he couldn't open his eyes.

Cassie smiled when she saw him. He looked so cute when he was sleepy. Of course, she thought he looked cute all the time, so she probably was a little biased, but he looked especially sweet trying to wake up for her like he was. He was wearing white surgical scrubs – bottoms and a top – and she could see the neat row of stitches just above his temple.

"Cass…"

She knew it was supposed to have been Cassandra. Ian never called her anything but by her full name. He just obviously was too tired to finish it.

Saving him the trouble of waking up, she just sat down on the bed next to him, her hand coming out and touching his cheek.

"Go to sleep," she murmured to him, leaning over and brushing a kiss against the corner of his mouth. "It's okay…"

He made a noise she couldn't decipher, and his arm came around her, pulling her down onto the bed next to him and cuddling her up against his side in the same way he had Jaffer earlier – although Cassie didn't know it. She smiled and snuggled against him, her hand coming to rest lightly on his side.

Cassie didn't know it, but Ian had had a rough day. Not only hard, but also scary – although he'd managed to hide that fairly well most of the time. Except the baby part, and that hadn't been as bad as being ambushed and beat up and threatened. He hadn't allowed anyone to see it – of course, he'd been so tired no could see past that – but it was there, and he shivered as he pulled her close, stealing comfort from her without telling her why he needed it.

Cassie felt him shiver, though – she was way to close to him to miss it – and she pulled the blanket up over him, tucking it around him before scooting even closer. It didn't seem cold to her, but she was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, and he wasn't.