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Samantha Carter was pissed. She had been tossing and turning for the past two hours trying to get to sleep with no success. Normally, a simple case of insomnia would not be enough to infuriate the even-tempered major. However, these were not normal circumstances.
It was only a few short hours ago she was in her lab working diligently on a device SG-12 had brought back through the gate, when, without warning, Sam fell asleep. It was totally unexpected and completely out-of-character for the officer. She was typing a description of the device into the computer when her eyes closed and her head drooped at an unnatural angle.
She probably would have continued sleeping in that position for several hours if it hadn't been for Jack walking into Sam's lab only minutes later. He was coming to check on her and kick her out of her lab for the night. At the sight of Sam sleeping in an upright position, Jack stopped and let out a small laugh. After completely burning the sight of his sleeping major into his head, he quietly walked up behind her and whispered in her ear. "Carter, you're drooling."
The words went unheard by Sam, but, the feel of his breath on her ear and neck was enough to make Sam jump up out of her seat, head-butting Jack right in the chin.
"OW!" Jack yelped, holding his chin in his hands.
"Sir, what are you doing?" Sam asked sleepily.
"Getting injured apparently!" Jack snapped, still holding his chin.
"Sorry, sir," Sam said, lowering her head in embarrassment.
"S'okay, Carter, I came to kick you out of here to get some sleep, but I see you were already doing that," Jack announced, crossing his arms across his chest and smirking.
"God!" Sam exclaimed as she blinked her eyes a few times trying to wake herself up more. "I am completely exhausted!"
"Well, you are definitely not driving yourself home," Jack replied in his 'I'm-the-colonel-and-you-have-to-do-what-I-say voice.' "As I see it, you have two options here, Carter….I can drive you home, or you can stay the night on base."
The thought of spending the night on base was not appealing at all to the pregnant woman, so she opted for the lift home. "You can drive me home sir, as tired as I feel, the only thing I want is my bed," She weakly announced as she turned off her equipment and headed for the door.
Jack had driven Sam to her house, helped her inside, made sure she didn't need anything, and then headed home himself. Sam, even after all she had been through in her life, had never felt so unbelievably exhausted. Her body was screaming at her to collapse anywhere and sleep the night away. She sluggishly locked the door behind Jack, slipped on her night clothes and dragged herself into her big, warm bed. And, that is where she had been for the past two hours WIDE AWAKE!
"Erggh," Sam growled, angrily throwing the covers off of her and getting out of bed. She used the bathroom again, for the tenth time that evening, and then padded into the kitchen.
Opening up the freezer, Sam's eyes locked on a box of ice cream. "Hmm, that sounds good," she said to herself, smiling and grabbing the container out of its home. However, Sam's joy was short-lived when she opened the lid and discovered only two bites left of the delicious confection.
"Damn," Sam cursed to herself as she gulped down the two bites and scooped what she could off the sides. After tossing the empty container into the trash, Sam went back to the refrigerator and rummaged around trying to find something to quench her craving. Coming up empty-handed, she next tried the cupboards, but came out with the same results. "Damn, damn, damn," she cursed again.
After an hour of pacing her house, Sam's craving only intensified, as did her anger over the whole darn predicament. Finally giving in to her stomach, Sam did the only thing she could think of….she called the father of her baby.
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Jack had gone straight home after dropping Sam off at her house. Originally planning on drinking a beer or two and enjoying a few hours of channel-surfing, Jack found himself quite tired shortly after arriving home, and headed off to bed earlier than normal. He was blissfully dozing in dream world when the screeching sound of his phone pounded into his ears and woke him up. Jack reached over and snatched the phone up off the receiver. "Yeah!" was his only greeting.
"Sir, hi. Did I wake you?" Sam asked innocently into the phone.
"What?….Carter?…What?..Yes…uh, no…I mean yeah, uh, I was sleeping," Jack croaked out, not quite sure what he said.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir."
"S'okay, Carter…..uh, what did you need?" he asked, starting to wake up a little more.
"I couldn't sleep," Sam announced.
"Oh, sorry to hear that," Jack replied….. "So," he continued after a few seconds of silence. "Did you call to see if I was having the same problem?"
"What?" Sam asked in confusion.
"Nothing, Carter….So, did you try counting sheep?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"Sir?"
"Sheep, Carter! You know, one sheep, two sheep, red sheep, blue sheep," Jack casually replied.
"Ah, sir, I believe that's fish," Sam stated.
"Carter, I think I would know if you're supposed to count fish," Jack innocently responded.
"No, sir, ah…," Sam thought about explaining the difference between counting sheep and Dr. Seuss and decided she really didn't want to waste the time. "Never mind, sir."
"Okay," Jack answered, still confused.
"Ah, sir. Actually, I was calling because I want ice cream," Sam bluntly announced.
"Ice cream?"
"Uh, yes, sir. See, I would go get it myself, but my car is on base."
"So, it is," Jack sighed. "What kind?"
"Sir?"
"Ice cream, Carter, what kind are you wanting?" Jack asked, a slight note of irritation in his voice.
"Uh, sir, I really didn't think you'd be sleeping yet, I don't want to drag you out of bed for a stupid craving. I can walk up to the store myself," Sam answered, embarrassment sweeping over her body.
"CARTER, you're four months pregnant! You are not walking up to the store in the middle of the night! NOW, what KIND of ice cream do you want?"
"Ben-N-Jerry's Chocolate-chip cookie dough," Sam sheepishly answered.
"Anything else while I'm out?"
"No, sir."
"Alright, I'll be there shortly." Jack hung up the phone and then sighed heavily as he pulled himself out of his bed.
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Jack arrived back at Sam's forty-five minutes later with four grocery bags full of ice cream. Sam let him in and then, noticing all the bags, looked at him with a confused expression. "Sir?" she asked.
"Just making sure you don't run out," he replied, grinning broadly and carrying the bags to her kitchen. Sam helped by pulling the containers out of the bags while Jack made room for them all in her freezer. After he thought he had put them all in there, he turned around to see Sam eating out of three different containers.
Sam glanced up at Jack with a look of glee all over her face. "I'm so happy you bought more than one kind!" she exclaimed, while spooning another bite into her mouth. Jack couldn't help but find the sight before him hilarious and laughed out loud before grabbing a spoon and joining Sam.
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The next day, Sam realized that every part of her body was tired. Jack had insisted she go and see Janet to make sure there was nothing wrong with her. Janet assured them that being overly tired was a normal phase of pregnancy and it would lessen eventually. At hearing this, Jack declared that he would escort Sam to and from work until the exhaustion passed. Sam, who really was too tired to argue, merely nodded her head in agreement.
That night, Jack had deposited Sam at her house, and then promptly headed for the grocery store. Meandering down each aisle, Jack grabbed anything and everything he thought Sam might crave in the middle of the night. The cashier had looked at him a little funny while ringing up his two cart-loads of groceries, but Jack really didn't care.
When he arrived back at Sam's house with the load of groceries, Sam was astonished.
"Sir, this really wasn't necessary, I can't believe you bought all this," Sam exclaimed as she unpacked the groceries in her kitchen.
"No sweat, Carter. Trust me, I did it as much for me as for you," he replied, grinning ear-to-ear at Carter. Sam flashed him a dirty look and then went back to her unpacking.
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All was well for the next week. Jack would pick Sam up for work in the morning, and drop her off at home at night. He would question her about her cravings and make sure her house was completely stocked to ensure no more middle-of-the-night runs to the grocery store.
And, so, when he awoke in the middle of the night to the ringing of his phone, Jack was completely perplexed. It had registered in his head that something was going off, but, after reaching over and slapping his alarm clock, the ringing continued.
Once his bleary mind cleared enough to realize it wasn't his alarm ringing, Jack looked around for his phone. Finding it on the floor next to his bed, he picked it up and yelled, "WHAT!"
"Sir?" Sam spoke, startled by the yell.
"Carter?" Jack spoke into the phone, his voice returning to normal as he shook the sleep from his head.
"Sorry to wake you, sir," Sam quietly said.
"Can't sleep again, Carter?" Jack asked, too tired for small talk.
"Yes, sir," Sam answered. After a few seconds of silence, she continued. "My back is killing me. I was kind of hoping you could give me a ride to the base."
"Your back hurts so you want to go to the base?" Jack asked in confusion.
"Yes, sir. Teal'c gives a mean back massage….sir."
"Carter! You want me to get up, go to your house, pick you up and take you to the base so Teal'c can rub your back?" Jack asked in agitation.
"Yes, sir, if you don't mind….I guess I could call the base and have them send someone to get me…," Sam rambled on.
"Carter, why can't I just rub your back?" Jack asked, cutting her off.
"Well sir, I didn't want to inconvenience you."
"CARTER! Don't you think its less of an inconvenience for me to come over and rub your back myself rather than taking you all the way to the base to have Teal'c do it?"
"Oh, I suppose sir, if you don't mind. I guess I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable," Sam stuttered out.
"No problem, Carter," Jack stated as he pulled himself out of bed. "See you soon."
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Jack arrived at Sam's house a few minutes later, and after positioning himself on the couch and Sam on the floor between his legs, he began massaging her back and shoulders.
"Hmmm, sir, that feels soooo good," Sam moaned.
"Carter!" Jack croaked. "Absolutely NO MOANING while I'm doing this, understood?"
"Yes, sir," Sam laughed. "But, don't forget, I was going to have Teal'c do this."
"Please, Carter! You moaning with Teal'c is not an image I want to imagine," Jack whined.
Sam laughed again. "Yes, sir."
"You know," Jack started after a good half an hour of massaging her back. "I was thinking."
"Really, sir, I'm impressed," Sam joked.
"Ha, ha, Carter," ack dryly replied.
"Sorry, sir…."What were you thinking?" she asked, trying to be forgiven.
"I was thinking….." Jack started. "That maybe you should come stay with me for the rest of your pregnancy."
"Why?" Sam asked, surprised. Her heart beginning to race in her chest.
"Because my place is bigger," he replied, gulping back his nervousness.
"Jack, why do you want me to stay with you?" Sam asked again, her voice hoarse in nervousness.
The fact that Sam had used his first name did not go unnoticed by Jack. "Well, with all these weird things happening to your body, it's probably best that you not be alone at night," Jack quickly responded, trying to sell Sam on the idea.
Sam, wanting to make Jack squirm a little, replied, "I guess I could probably move in with Janet and Cassie for a bit."
Jack stopped rubbing Sam's back and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "You could move in with Janet…BUT..I see two possible problems with that."
"Really?" Sam teased, grinning widely while her back was turned to Jack.
"Yup. One, I will still have to leave my house to assist you with your…..problems in the middle of the night or B, Janet will help you in the middle of the night and then take her lack of sleep out on me during my physicals."
Sam laughed. "You're right about that, she would take it out on you." Sam sat back against the couch causing her shoulders to, innocently, brush up against the inside of Jack's legs. "Okay."
"Okay?" he asked.
"Okay," she said again, smiling happily, knowing he couldn't see her face.
"Okay, you'll move in with me?" Jack asked, still a little confused.
"Yes," Sam replied.
"Yes?" Jack asked
"Yes," she replied again.
"Sweet!" Jack exclaimed and smiled broadly, rubbing Sam's back again.
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