CHAPTER EIGHT
A week later.
Jack slowly got out of bed and headed off to have a shower as the first rays of sun poured through the crack in the curtains. While enjoying the steady stream of hot water on his back, he thought about everything that had happened recently.
He had a family again. It hadn't taken him self and Megan long to fall into a routine around the house. He got up early, gave Johnny his breakfast, and let Megan catch a bit more shuteye. When she was up and ready, they would do a quick tidy up of the house and then head off to either a doctor's appointment or over to Sam's place. Damn it, he did it again. He called her Sam. It had been happening a lot lately. He thought to himself that it must be the fact that they were all on leave and that due to Megan; they were seeing a lot more of each other.
He couldn't understand the change in his Major. Before Megan's arrival they had the agreement to bottle up any feelings that they might have toward each other. But heralding Megan's arrival, he noticed that Sam was smiling at him more. She wasn't worried of what people would think if she came over for dinner. Little things. He wasn't sure what to make of it.
After finishing in the shower, Jack headed towards Johnny's room where he found the boy up to his elbows in his toy box. Jack decided that being a Grandfather was rather fun. He had filled that toy box to the brim in the last few days. And the best thing was that he got to test all the new toys out, just to make sure they are all in working order and safe for a toddler.
Megan emerged, waddling, from her room about an hour later.
"Hello sweetheart, what have you and granddad been up to this morning?"
Megan asked her son as he gave her a big hug.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Jack asked Megan.
"Honestly, I'm not that hungry. I didn't get much sleep last night. The babies don't have too much room to move in there, but I swear that they are constantly fighting with each other. Kicking each other and tiring out their poor mother. It's times like this that I really miss coffee."
"Speaking of coffee, have you spoken to Daniel yet?" Jack asked with an accusing look on his face.
"No, I haven't. Sam said that she has tried to call him a few times and just gets the machine. I want to talk to him but it is complicated."
"I wish you would tell me what happened that night. I can't help you if I don't know and Daniel is one of my best friends. I want to know why he hasn't come around here to see you and Johnny."
Megan didn't say anything for a moment, trying to find the words to say what she wanted.
"Daniel and I sort of had a fight."
"How do you sort of have a fight, either you do or you don't."
"Dad, I don't want to talk to you about it. I don't want to come between you and Daniel. Here, give Johnny to me. Off you go and have a day to yourself. We have been tying you up all week and you should go and watch a hockey game with Daniel or something."
"I do need to go and get a few things down at the shops, do you want me to take Johnny with me?"
"No I said for you to go out. I cross my heart I'll be alright. Plus if there is a problem I'll call Sam."
"OK, but I'll have my mobile with me if you need anything," Jack said, picking up his jacket and keys.
Megan took Johnny into the living room and spread out some toys to keep him amused. Pottering around the house, she went from room to room tidying up. When she saw the doctor yesterday, he had said that it wouldn't be long before the babies were born and the best way to bring on labor was light exercise. So that's what she was going to do. Thinking of the conversation she had had with her father this morning, Megan couldn't help but get upset. After her 'conversation' with Daniel, Megan had thought things over. She did love him. This one. It scared her and definitely confused her.
She had tried to ring him the next morning to tell him that she wanted to be a part of his life, but on the third ring he picked up and she panicked and hung up.
Like he had told her, she was still mourning her husband. She would not tarnish her memory of him by falling in love, or into bed, with another man so fast. She wanted to see how it progressed, but she kept telling herself that she already had too much on her plate as it was and she didn't need any more complications. She didn't want to stress herself out because of the babies, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.
Megan had told Sam what happened. She needed someone to talk to, someone who knew Daniel, and she was not going to bring her father into this. Sam agreed with Megan's reasoning about waiting a while longer before doing anything. At Megan's urging, Sam had tried to ring Daniel at home a couple of times, but only got the machine. Worried about him, they rang the base and found out that he had been staying there. Working until all hours of the night, getting a few hours sleep and then back at it again. Megan and Sam were both worried, but they both knew that he had to work through this himself, in his own way.
As Megan reached up to adjust a picture on the wall, she felt a sharp stinging pain in her lower back. Grasping her stomach, she quickly sat down in the closest chair. She had been having back pains on and off all night. Realizing what was happening, she waited until the contraction subsided, and then went to find the portable phone.
~*~*~*~
When Jack arrived at the base, he went through all the checkpoints and headed down to Daniel's office, knowing that he would find the other man there.
"Knock, knock," he said while pushing the door open.
He sighed when he saw Daniel slumped at his desk, asleep in a very awkward position.
"Oy, Daniel. Wake up." Jack said as he shook Daniel by the shoulder slightly.
"What, what's wrong?" came the reply.
"You fell asleep at your desk."
"Oh, OK. Give me a second."
After grabbing a coffee and sitting back down, Daniel started to speak.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm checking up on you; we haven't heard from you for a while. And what the hell are you doing here? We are supposed to be on stand down. You know what that means: No work, more play, and maybe the nasty doctor will stay away."
"Very funny. I had to catch up on some work. So, um, how is, um .. Johnny?"
"Both he and his mother are fine. Speaking of which, are you planning on seeing either of them any time soon?"
Daniel looked around the room, anywhere but at Jack.
"Daniel just tell me what is going on? Megan is beyond depressed. She is spending every spare moment with Sa. um Carter and you know that can't be good for the babies to hear that techno babble all day."
"Jack, I don't want to talk about it; especially not with you."
"Why not? And if you say because I'm her father, then I will shoot you. I grasp the concept of not wanting to talk to the father of the girl you are hopelessly falling for."
Stopping at Daniel's dumbfounded expression, Jack paused a moment before continuing.
"Yes Daniel, I'm not that dense. Do you think I am blind? Daniel, I know that you have feelings for Megan and for what it is worth I'm pretty sure that she has the same ones for you."
"She, um, she does?"
"Well, she hasn't said so in so many words to me, but I heard her and, uh... Carter... talking. Come on, your coming home. First things first. You need a shower and a shave. Go on off with you, I'll be waiting."
With that, Jack shooed Daniel towards his on-base quarters to get ready.
Sam heard the phone over the music and, after jumping off the treadmill and turning the volume down, she picked up the extension in the living room.
"Hello?"
"Ah, Sam, it's Megan. I think you need to come and pick me up. My water has just broken."
"Where's the Colonel?"
"Uh, he--he went out. I can't get him on his mobile. Can you come and get me please? They are getting really strong. These little buggers really want out."
"Ok, give me ten minutes and I'll be there."
Sam dropped the phone, picked up her keys and headed straight out the door.
"Sam, thank God you're here! I can't believe how much it hurts. It wasn't this bad with Johnny; I've started bleeding on every contraction. They are about 8 minutes apart." Megan suddenly clutched her stomach and dropped to her knees.
Sam quickly helped her to her feet, and sat her just near the door. Racing into the house, Sam grabbed Megan's bag; which was a permanent fixture at the front door. Going back to help Megan to the car, she heard Johnny in the other room.
"I'll just go and get Johnny, don't move," Sam ordered Megan.
After getting everyone into the car, Sam took off at a rate of knots. She called ahead to the base to let them know she was coming and told them to find Janet and get her there ASAP.
Going through the first checkpoint, Megan was glad to see her father's jeep in the parking lot.
"He's here. That's why his phone didn't work. He had to turn it off in the mountain," Sam said to no one in particular.
Pulling up close to the entrance, Sam helped Megan out of the car and in to the waiting wheelchair one of the nurses from the infirmary had thought to bring up. As she was grabbing Johnny out of the back seat, a car pulled up beside her and Janet and the girls jumped out. Cassie came over and took the toddler from her arms and Caitlin grabbed the bag as the group made their way to the first elevator.
Janet was asking Megan all the important questions. It all blurred for Sam who, instead, focused her attention on the kids.
"OK, Cassie, Caitlin I need you to look after Johnny while your mum and I are in the delivery room. Take him to the rec. room. If you need anything just come and get one of the nurses. OK?"
Both girls nodded and got off on the right floor when the doors opened.
The four women, including the nurse, carried on down to the infirmary.
While Daniel was having his shower, Jack made his way to the rec. room. He hadn't been getting too much practice at his play station lately, so he figured he could get in at least a half hours worth while he waited.
When the half hour was up, Jack reached over the turn the TV off. Heading out the door, he bumped into Cassie and Caitlin with Johnny walking between them. "What's wrong guys? Why are you here?" Cassie answered as Caitlin took the boy into the room. "Megan went into labor so Sam bought her here. Mum is with them now." Taking off at a run, Jack only slowed down to ask where they were, once Cassie told him where he took off again.
Megan was being settled into bed, when Jack burst through the door. "Megan, are you all right?" "Peachy, thanks dad. What are you doing on base?" "Came to see Daniel." If there hadn't been so many people in the room, Jack swore that Megan would be yelling at him, but she settled for giving him a foul look instead. Just as she was about to say something about it, she clutched her stomach in agony and curled up in the fetal position. "Janet, this is worse then when Johnny was born, is there anything wrong? I feel like I'm splitting in two." Megan asked in between panting and trying to control the pain.
While Janet reassured Megan, Jack took Sam aside. "Carter, can you go and get Daniel please? He is in the locker room." "Do you think that is such a good idea Sir?" "I don't know, but I do think that Daniel should be here." The Major turned on her heel and left to find the archeologist.
"Daniel, are you in there?" Sam yelled from the door, cautious of the fact that the sign on the locker room door still said Men Only. Daniel opened the door clad in only a towel. "Sam! What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" "Hurry up and get dressed, Megan has gone into labor and she is down in the infirmary." Quickly, Daniel shut the door and, in five minutes flat, he was walking with Sam toward the elevator fully clothed.
Stopping just short of pushing the button, Daniel started to turn on the spot. "Oh no you don't Daniel. I don't care what the two of you are going through at the moment. Megan has told me that she wants you to be the children's father. So unless you have a problem with that part, I suggest we get going." "Sam, I don't know if I can do this. I want to be there for the kids, but I don't know if I could handle it. I don't know what Megan told you, but we, um, well, we had sort of a disagreement last week. It wasn't a full blown fight or anything like that, but she never told me what she thought about all of it."
"Daniel, Megan has very deep feelings for you, but she is too afraid to act on them." "Why? I told her that I pretty much felt the same way." "She has a lot on her plate at the moment. Daniel, one minute she thinks that she only cares for you because in the whole scheme of things you are her husband. The next minute she realizes that you and her husband do have similarities but there is also subtle differences. She also worries about tarnishing her memory of him, by jumping straight into another man's arms. Daniel you have to understand that, not only does she have a lot of hormones messing with her at the moment but she has had a very tough few months."
Daniel stood rooted to the spot looking at his feet and Sam reached out and pressed the button for the elevator.
Arriving in the infirmary a few minutes later, they were both pushed out the door by one of the nurses who was running around in what looked like an emergency. A few seconds later Jack was literally tossed out of the door. "What's wrong?" Daniel asked, starting to pace realizing that something was wrong with Megan. "I, I don't know. Everything was fine and then alarms started going off and Megan wouldn't wake up. I was holding her hand and it went limp. Janet kicked me out."
Without saying a word Daniel pushed past Jack and into the room. Jack and Sam could hear one of the nurse try and tell him to leave but he simply ignored her and went and sat beside Megan and brushed the hair away from her face. "Daniel, get out." Janet yelled at him. "I'm not leaving her. These are my kids and I'm not leaving her to do this by herself." "Fine Daniel, listen to me. I'm going to get one of the nurses to gown you up. We are going to have to do a cesarean section. One of the babies is in distress. Megan passed out from the pain. Go with that nurse and get gowned up then you can stay." Daniel went and got ready, sitting back down again he whispered in Megan's ear.
"I love you, don't you die on me." Resting his forehead on her cheek, a few silent tears escaped from his eyes.
Megan was given an epidural. Janet said that with the epidural she might wake up but it also made her numb from the waist down so she couldn't feel a thing. Daniel stayed by her side the whole time, bits and pieces of the medical jargon that Janet was saying registering in his mind. He heard her ask for things, scalpel and retractor. He also heard her ask for sponges. Lots of sponges and lots of suction. They had a sheet hooked up so he couldn't see what she was doing, but he did see how pale Megan's face was, the color draining slowly from her cheeks.
Then he heard it. A baby crying.
Please read and review. Ellie Mae
Jack slowly got out of bed and headed off to have a shower as the first rays of sun poured through the crack in the curtains. While enjoying the steady stream of hot water on his back, he thought about everything that had happened recently.
He had a family again. It hadn't taken him self and Megan long to fall into a routine around the house. He got up early, gave Johnny his breakfast, and let Megan catch a bit more shuteye. When she was up and ready, they would do a quick tidy up of the house and then head off to either a doctor's appointment or over to Sam's place. Damn it, he did it again. He called her Sam. It had been happening a lot lately. He thought to himself that it must be the fact that they were all on leave and that due to Megan; they were seeing a lot more of each other.
He couldn't understand the change in his Major. Before Megan's arrival they had the agreement to bottle up any feelings that they might have toward each other. But heralding Megan's arrival, he noticed that Sam was smiling at him more. She wasn't worried of what people would think if she came over for dinner. Little things. He wasn't sure what to make of it.
After finishing in the shower, Jack headed towards Johnny's room where he found the boy up to his elbows in his toy box. Jack decided that being a Grandfather was rather fun. He had filled that toy box to the brim in the last few days. And the best thing was that he got to test all the new toys out, just to make sure they are all in working order and safe for a toddler.
Megan emerged, waddling, from her room about an hour later.
"Hello sweetheart, what have you and granddad been up to this morning?"
Megan asked her son as he gave her a big hug.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Jack asked Megan.
"Honestly, I'm not that hungry. I didn't get much sleep last night. The babies don't have too much room to move in there, but I swear that they are constantly fighting with each other. Kicking each other and tiring out their poor mother. It's times like this that I really miss coffee."
"Speaking of coffee, have you spoken to Daniel yet?" Jack asked with an accusing look on his face.
"No, I haven't. Sam said that she has tried to call him a few times and just gets the machine. I want to talk to him but it is complicated."
"I wish you would tell me what happened that night. I can't help you if I don't know and Daniel is one of my best friends. I want to know why he hasn't come around here to see you and Johnny."
Megan didn't say anything for a moment, trying to find the words to say what she wanted.
"Daniel and I sort of had a fight."
"How do you sort of have a fight, either you do or you don't."
"Dad, I don't want to talk to you about it. I don't want to come between you and Daniel. Here, give Johnny to me. Off you go and have a day to yourself. We have been tying you up all week and you should go and watch a hockey game with Daniel or something."
"I do need to go and get a few things down at the shops, do you want me to take Johnny with me?"
"No I said for you to go out. I cross my heart I'll be alright. Plus if there is a problem I'll call Sam."
"OK, but I'll have my mobile with me if you need anything," Jack said, picking up his jacket and keys.
Megan took Johnny into the living room and spread out some toys to keep him amused. Pottering around the house, she went from room to room tidying up. When she saw the doctor yesterday, he had said that it wouldn't be long before the babies were born and the best way to bring on labor was light exercise. So that's what she was going to do. Thinking of the conversation she had had with her father this morning, Megan couldn't help but get upset. After her 'conversation' with Daniel, Megan had thought things over. She did love him. This one. It scared her and definitely confused her.
She had tried to ring him the next morning to tell him that she wanted to be a part of his life, but on the third ring he picked up and she panicked and hung up.
Like he had told her, she was still mourning her husband. She would not tarnish her memory of him by falling in love, or into bed, with another man so fast. She wanted to see how it progressed, but she kept telling herself that she already had too much on her plate as it was and she didn't need any more complications. She didn't want to stress herself out because of the babies, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.
Megan had told Sam what happened. She needed someone to talk to, someone who knew Daniel, and she was not going to bring her father into this. Sam agreed with Megan's reasoning about waiting a while longer before doing anything. At Megan's urging, Sam had tried to ring Daniel at home a couple of times, but only got the machine. Worried about him, they rang the base and found out that he had been staying there. Working until all hours of the night, getting a few hours sleep and then back at it again. Megan and Sam were both worried, but they both knew that he had to work through this himself, in his own way.
As Megan reached up to adjust a picture on the wall, she felt a sharp stinging pain in her lower back. Grasping her stomach, she quickly sat down in the closest chair. She had been having back pains on and off all night. Realizing what was happening, she waited until the contraction subsided, and then went to find the portable phone.
~*~*~*~
When Jack arrived at the base, he went through all the checkpoints and headed down to Daniel's office, knowing that he would find the other man there.
"Knock, knock," he said while pushing the door open.
He sighed when he saw Daniel slumped at his desk, asleep in a very awkward position.
"Oy, Daniel. Wake up." Jack said as he shook Daniel by the shoulder slightly.
"What, what's wrong?" came the reply.
"You fell asleep at your desk."
"Oh, OK. Give me a second."
After grabbing a coffee and sitting back down, Daniel started to speak.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm checking up on you; we haven't heard from you for a while. And what the hell are you doing here? We are supposed to be on stand down. You know what that means: No work, more play, and maybe the nasty doctor will stay away."
"Very funny. I had to catch up on some work. So, um, how is, um .. Johnny?"
"Both he and his mother are fine. Speaking of which, are you planning on seeing either of them any time soon?"
Daniel looked around the room, anywhere but at Jack.
"Daniel just tell me what is going on? Megan is beyond depressed. She is spending every spare moment with Sa. um Carter and you know that can't be good for the babies to hear that techno babble all day."
"Jack, I don't want to talk about it; especially not with you."
"Why not? And if you say because I'm her father, then I will shoot you. I grasp the concept of not wanting to talk to the father of the girl you are hopelessly falling for."
Stopping at Daniel's dumbfounded expression, Jack paused a moment before continuing.
"Yes Daniel, I'm not that dense. Do you think I am blind? Daniel, I know that you have feelings for Megan and for what it is worth I'm pretty sure that she has the same ones for you."
"She, um, she does?"
"Well, she hasn't said so in so many words to me, but I heard her and, uh... Carter... talking. Come on, your coming home. First things first. You need a shower and a shave. Go on off with you, I'll be waiting."
With that, Jack shooed Daniel towards his on-base quarters to get ready.
Sam heard the phone over the music and, after jumping off the treadmill and turning the volume down, she picked up the extension in the living room.
"Hello?"
"Ah, Sam, it's Megan. I think you need to come and pick me up. My water has just broken."
"Where's the Colonel?"
"Uh, he--he went out. I can't get him on his mobile. Can you come and get me please? They are getting really strong. These little buggers really want out."
"Ok, give me ten minutes and I'll be there."
Sam dropped the phone, picked up her keys and headed straight out the door.
"Sam, thank God you're here! I can't believe how much it hurts. It wasn't this bad with Johnny; I've started bleeding on every contraction. They are about 8 minutes apart." Megan suddenly clutched her stomach and dropped to her knees.
Sam quickly helped her to her feet, and sat her just near the door. Racing into the house, Sam grabbed Megan's bag; which was a permanent fixture at the front door. Going back to help Megan to the car, she heard Johnny in the other room.
"I'll just go and get Johnny, don't move," Sam ordered Megan.
After getting everyone into the car, Sam took off at a rate of knots. She called ahead to the base to let them know she was coming and told them to find Janet and get her there ASAP.
Going through the first checkpoint, Megan was glad to see her father's jeep in the parking lot.
"He's here. That's why his phone didn't work. He had to turn it off in the mountain," Sam said to no one in particular.
Pulling up close to the entrance, Sam helped Megan out of the car and in to the waiting wheelchair one of the nurses from the infirmary had thought to bring up. As she was grabbing Johnny out of the back seat, a car pulled up beside her and Janet and the girls jumped out. Cassie came over and took the toddler from her arms and Caitlin grabbed the bag as the group made their way to the first elevator.
Janet was asking Megan all the important questions. It all blurred for Sam who, instead, focused her attention on the kids.
"OK, Cassie, Caitlin I need you to look after Johnny while your mum and I are in the delivery room. Take him to the rec. room. If you need anything just come and get one of the nurses. OK?"
Both girls nodded and got off on the right floor when the doors opened.
The four women, including the nurse, carried on down to the infirmary.
While Daniel was having his shower, Jack made his way to the rec. room. He hadn't been getting too much practice at his play station lately, so he figured he could get in at least a half hours worth while he waited.
When the half hour was up, Jack reached over the turn the TV off. Heading out the door, he bumped into Cassie and Caitlin with Johnny walking between them. "What's wrong guys? Why are you here?" Cassie answered as Caitlin took the boy into the room. "Megan went into labor so Sam bought her here. Mum is with them now." Taking off at a run, Jack only slowed down to ask where they were, once Cassie told him where he took off again.
Megan was being settled into bed, when Jack burst through the door. "Megan, are you all right?" "Peachy, thanks dad. What are you doing on base?" "Came to see Daniel." If there hadn't been so many people in the room, Jack swore that Megan would be yelling at him, but she settled for giving him a foul look instead. Just as she was about to say something about it, she clutched her stomach in agony and curled up in the fetal position. "Janet, this is worse then when Johnny was born, is there anything wrong? I feel like I'm splitting in two." Megan asked in between panting and trying to control the pain.
While Janet reassured Megan, Jack took Sam aside. "Carter, can you go and get Daniel please? He is in the locker room." "Do you think that is such a good idea Sir?" "I don't know, but I do think that Daniel should be here." The Major turned on her heel and left to find the archeologist.
"Daniel, are you in there?" Sam yelled from the door, cautious of the fact that the sign on the locker room door still said Men Only. Daniel opened the door clad in only a towel. "Sam! What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" "Hurry up and get dressed, Megan has gone into labor and she is down in the infirmary." Quickly, Daniel shut the door and, in five minutes flat, he was walking with Sam toward the elevator fully clothed.
Stopping just short of pushing the button, Daniel started to turn on the spot. "Oh no you don't Daniel. I don't care what the two of you are going through at the moment. Megan has told me that she wants you to be the children's father. So unless you have a problem with that part, I suggest we get going." "Sam, I don't know if I can do this. I want to be there for the kids, but I don't know if I could handle it. I don't know what Megan told you, but we, um, well, we had sort of a disagreement last week. It wasn't a full blown fight or anything like that, but she never told me what she thought about all of it."
"Daniel, Megan has very deep feelings for you, but she is too afraid to act on them." "Why? I told her that I pretty much felt the same way." "She has a lot on her plate at the moment. Daniel, one minute she thinks that she only cares for you because in the whole scheme of things you are her husband. The next minute she realizes that you and her husband do have similarities but there is also subtle differences. She also worries about tarnishing her memory of him, by jumping straight into another man's arms. Daniel you have to understand that, not only does she have a lot of hormones messing with her at the moment but she has had a very tough few months."
Daniel stood rooted to the spot looking at his feet and Sam reached out and pressed the button for the elevator.
Arriving in the infirmary a few minutes later, they were both pushed out the door by one of the nurses who was running around in what looked like an emergency. A few seconds later Jack was literally tossed out of the door. "What's wrong?" Daniel asked, starting to pace realizing that something was wrong with Megan. "I, I don't know. Everything was fine and then alarms started going off and Megan wouldn't wake up. I was holding her hand and it went limp. Janet kicked me out."
Without saying a word Daniel pushed past Jack and into the room. Jack and Sam could hear one of the nurse try and tell him to leave but he simply ignored her and went and sat beside Megan and brushed the hair away from her face. "Daniel, get out." Janet yelled at him. "I'm not leaving her. These are my kids and I'm not leaving her to do this by herself." "Fine Daniel, listen to me. I'm going to get one of the nurses to gown you up. We are going to have to do a cesarean section. One of the babies is in distress. Megan passed out from the pain. Go with that nurse and get gowned up then you can stay." Daniel went and got ready, sitting back down again he whispered in Megan's ear.
"I love you, don't you die on me." Resting his forehead on her cheek, a few silent tears escaped from his eyes.
Megan was given an epidural. Janet said that with the epidural she might wake up but it also made her numb from the waist down so she couldn't feel a thing. Daniel stayed by her side the whole time, bits and pieces of the medical jargon that Janet was saying registering in his mind. He heard her ask for things, scalpel and retractor. He also heard her ask for sponges. Lots of sponges and lots of suction. They had a sheet hooked up so he couldn't see what she was doing, but he did see how pale Megan's face was, the color draining slowly from her cheeks.
Then he heard it. A baby crying.
Please read and review. Ellie Mae
