John Doe
Chapter Forty Five
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One week later:
"I've decided not to go off-world anymore," Sam declared as she sat down next to her husband-to-be, in the commissary of the SGC. Her break was premature, she wasn't even four months along and was cleared for 'gate travel up until her fifth month of pregnancy. Jack looked up from his pancakes at her, a little surprised by the statement.
"Really?" he questioned. If anyone had asked him, he would have told them that Samantha Carter would continue through the Stargate until the day she got too big to fit into her fatigues. Hell, he would have bet money on the fact that she would even argue with him to continue through long past that point.
"Yeah. The twins have been acting up so much lately that it's hard for me to concentrate even at home, let alone an alien planet." Not to mention the fact that her fatigues were beginning to get a bit snug. Sam was looking forward to the day when she could come to work at the breezy mountain dressed in her maternity clothing. It was highly unorthodox and completely against regulations, but her fiancé was the general, and that meant she could do pretty much whatever, and at that point in her life she wasn't above using his position to her advantage. The swollen feet and aching back kind of threw that part of her pride out of the window.
"Is it really that bad?" he inquired, taking a bite of his pancakes.
Understanding that Jack was fishing for an excuse to keep her from working all together, Sam shook her head. "I just don't want to take any unnecessary risks. I'll be just fine here."
Jack nodded, he had known that he wouldn't have been able tog et her to stay at home for the next five or so months, but at least she would be staying at the base, where he could watch her, with plenty of excuses to back his protectiveness up. "Well, it is your decision." he said, very nonchalant.
Sam snorted softly, he was probably doing a mental happy-dance at that moment, and there he was pretending as if he wasn't the least bit pleased at her choice. "Don't think this means I will quit working all together. I still have a few projects that I absolutely must finish."
He grinned, "I would never..."
"Uh huh," she said sarcastically. "I believe that one."
"You should, it's the truth." He smiled, glancing at her plate, which contained a few grapes and pear slices. The smile quickly turned to a frown, "Is that all you're going to eat?"
"I've been feeling a little bit nauseated this morning," she informed him. "I'm probably risking it by eating even this."
Well, it wasn't something that happened often, to her, at least, but morning sickness wasn't uncommon. "You want something salty? A cracker?"
She shook her head, "I'll be fine."
There was nothing left for him to do besides believe her. She didn't look pale and she was eating, albeit it, he wished she would eat some more than just some fruit. Nonetheless, it was her body and she knew what was going on with it much better than he did. He was certain she would eat later, when the sickness passed and she could have something a bit more solid. So, he finished up his pancakes, and they sat in a relative silence.
Moments later, after they finished their breakfast, the two left the commissary and went their separate ways. Jack to his office to work on paperwork, which seemed to dominate his time, ever since he had been promoted to general; and Sam off to her lab, where she had a 'non-explodeable' doohickey waiting to steal her time, going with the knowledge that her fiancé would probably drop by within the next half an hour, to make sure she hadn't defied physics and blown the thing up.
XXXX
"SAM!"his voice echoed through the house, bouncing from wall to wall, and finally entering the bedroom, where she was just coming out of the shower. "Samantha Carter!"
Not even bothering to stifle a groan, she wrapped her towel tightly around her body, leaving no room for it to loosen and slip, then walked out of the bedroom and down the hallway, just as he was getting ready to call out to her again. "What in the world is wrong?" she questioned, looking around for signs of blood or anything broken. Then she saw it. "...Oh..." she sighed. "Well, she is named Pandora for a reason..."
"So what... is she going to pay for it, since it was her curiosity's fault that my favorite chair now has claw marks and teeth prints in it?" he questioned, looking over at the over-sized chair, then back at her. "That was a comfortable chair."
"It can be replaced," Sam assured him. "Can I go get dressed now?"
"What?" he asked, slightly shocked. "That's it? 'It can be replaced'? You're not going to do anything about it?"
Sam had to keep herself from laughing this time, "Jack... honey, she is a dog. Yelling at her will do no good and no, I can't make her pay for it. I will get you a new chair, if it means that much to you."
He scowled, "It doesn't mean that much to me, but she knows not to chew on things..."
"Fine, I'll have a talk with 'Dora after I get dressed. Will that make you feel any better?"
"You having a talk with the dog or you getting dressed? Cos, I gotta tell you, I kind of like the wet towel thing... it works for you."
"Yeah," she snorted, brushing a lock of damp hair behind her ear, "sure..."
"I'm serious," he said, following her as she walked down the hall towards their bedroom. "It really works for you."
"We have to go to work in the morning," she reminded him, trying to make it into the bedroom and close the door behind her before he could follow. He was too quick for her, however, and he got into the room just as she shut the door.
"I know," he stated simply, shrugging his shoulders. "What's your point?"
"I have to have that talk with Pandora..."
"She won't understand one word that you say to her," he informed her, closing the space between them and pulling her into his arms. "And I don't think she'll mind missing out on it."
"Oh?" she questioned. "And, are you going to give me something better to do, then?"
"Yeah, sure," he mumbled, capturing her lips with his own, "you bet'cha."
XXXX
When Sam woke up, at a much later time, he was already awake, staring down at her, wearing a broad grin. "What?" she questioned, reaching out to stroke his cheek with the tips of her fingers.
He shook his head, "I was just thinking..."
"Oh yeah? What about?"
"In fifteen days you and I are going to be married." he replied, his grin growing bigger. "Actually, the thought that was running through my mind just now was I'm gonna marry Carter and sweet."
She let out a surprised chuckle and pulled him closer to him, kissing him softly. "I'm gonna marry the colonel, sweet."
"Hey," he said, pushing a stubborn lock of hair out of her eyes, "that's general to you."
"Maybe so," she reminded him, "but I fell in love with Colonel O'Neill, not General O'Neill, granted, I love him, as well. Still, you will always be Colonel to me."
"OK, I can accept that."
"Oh? You can? Well, thank you, O Great and Powerful General."
"You're welcome... but you forgot 'hot'."
"I thought we had a discussion about you not getting a big head?" she questioned of him, the smile on her face growing.
"We did." he assured her.
"Did you not pay attention?"
"I did."
"Uh huh..."
Jack grinned and kissed her deeply, "Time to get up, now."
"Ugh," she groaned, "let's just blow work today. That don't need us that much."
"They don't need me that much," he clarified, "but they need you that much and a thousand times more."
She frowned, "Darn. And here I thought we could spend the day together, being lazy and lying in bed..."
"Nope." he told her, wishing he could play hookie. "It's off to Oz for us."
XXXX
They entered the Cheyenne Mountain Complex nearly an hour later, both fully awake and ready to start their work-days. Sam had gotten over her rebellious streak and was already thinking of the different projects she could work on, perhaps even complete, that day, and Jack was just imagining how many feet the stack of paperwork, that was sitting on his desk, had grown over night. Well, one of them was ready to start the work-day, as it was.
They stopped by the commissary first, where both ate the scrambled eggs and toast that had been made that morning, albeit, Jack eating far more than Sam. She was feeling slightly uneasy and didn't want to push it by eating too much. She would come back in an hour or so and get some more toast or something, she promised him, before they went their separate ways, much like the morning before.
And, she had done exactly that. About an hour and half after the breakfast she had shared with her fiancé, she went back to the commissary and sat with Captain Deflorentes, the 2IC of SG-5, who claimed she was eating a late breakfast because her team had returned from P2Y-336 earlier that morning and she had just then gotten out of the showers. Sam was slightly jealous, wishing she could go off world once again and not have to worry about two other lives, besides her own. However, she wouldn't trade being pregnant for anything.
"How is Major Todd?" she inquired casually, remembering something Jack had told her about the two dating.
Deflorentes smiled impishly, "He's fine, Colonel. How is General O'Neill?"
"He's wonderful," Sam replied. "Over-protective at times, but wonderful."
The younger woman glanced at the bulge in Sam's stomach, "I'd be slightly worried if he wasn't over-protective, ma'am. There's a lot he has to watch out for."
"Indeed there is," Sam agreed. "What about you?"
"Me?" she asked, slightly surprised. "Not anytime soon."
"Excuse me for asking, Captain. but you're what, 27?"
"28," the woman corrected. "Just turned."
"Sometime soon would be better than sometime later. I know I wish I had gotten my act together when I was your age. Odds are, I won't be in this position again."
"Good thing you doubled up, this time, then," the woman told her with a smile. "You're not old at all, ma'am, you've still got a few years until it would become risky."
Sam nodded, "That may be true, but I think we'll have our hands full with two, let alone another."
Amanda Deflorentes nodded, "I'll keep your advice in mind, ma'am, but I have a debriefing that I have to get to." She excused herself from the table and left, but not before she rested her hand on the colonel's swollen belly, smiling lightly to herself. "I'll see you later, Colonel."
"Have fun, Captain," Sam replied with a grin, lately all the women on the base were drawn to her stomach like there were magnets attached to it and them. Not that she minded, it was actually something that she took pride in. When the Captain had gone, Sam herself finished her meal and took off back towards her lab.
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Jack sighed as SG-5 left the briefing room, it wasn't even 1100 hours yet and he was already wishing it was time to get home. Now that his debriefing was over, he had to return to the stack of files in his office (which had only grown 3 inches over night, rather than one or more feet). That wasn't something he was particularly thrilled about, not surprisingly.
He didn't have to worry about it, however, because five minutes after he sat down, Daniel knocked on the door to his office. He didn't know who it was at first, however, but it didn't take long for him to have an idea. Only two people on base ever entered his office without his permission, Sam and Daniel. Sam, because she was his fiancée and could do just about anything she wanted, and Daniel because he wasn't military and didn't really care if O'Neill got fussy because he didn't follow the correct protocol.
"Danny boy, what can I do for you?" Jack questioned, motioning for the archaeologist to sit down.
"Uh... Teal'c and I were wondering. Now that Sam is no longer on active duty, what is going to happen to SG-1?"
"I haven't thought about it yet," Jack admitted, tapping his pen on his desk, in a particularly annoying manner.
"Well, don't you think that you should?" Daniel inquired, leaning back in his chair and quirking an eyebrow at him.
"I suppose..."
"And?"
"I'll think about it..."
"Jack."
"Daniel."
"Until you get done 'thinking' about it, what happens to Teal'c and I?"
"You go with SG-5 back to P2Y-336."
Daniel blinked, "...Why...?"
"Because they found some ancient ruins that I would like you to examine."
"And Teal'c?"
"He'll be watching after you."
"Jack." Daniel said pointedly.
"Daniel. You're forgetful. You don't even remember to feed an animal when Sam and I are out of town. You forget to feed yourself when we're off world and you're looking at gibberish. And SG-5 isn't that aware of the fact that you let yourself get lost in work out there, so Teal'c will be going so that he can force you to eat and sleep. OK?"
Daniel grumbled an "alright".
"Good. Now... I have paperwork to do."
Actually, he had paperwork he should do, but wasn't really planning on doing. Either way, with Daniel out of the office he was free to nap or play with his game boy or Rubix Cube.
"Will you have an answer for me when I get back?"
"I should. You won't get back for four days."
"When do we leave?"
"1700."
Daniel sighed, "I'd better go tell Teal'c."
Jack nodded and waved him off, "Goodbye, Daniel."
"I'll be back later, Jack," the man informed him before he shut the office door behind him.
The General shrugged, gave his stack of paperwork a lazy glance, and then quickly decided that an extra hour of sleep wouldn't hurt so much. He could always do the paperwork later, anyway.
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A/N: Ugh. Colds have this nasty habit of going away for a few days and then coming back, ten fold, when you have a tennis match, no less. I hate allergy season.
Anyway... end rant. Let me know what you think about the chapter.