Saturday came and Sam managed to get a sitter for the baby. It was Jack who graciously volunteered for the task. It was the first time she was leaving the baby with someone besides her father and she was a little nervous even if she trusted Jack with her life. Daniel finally dragged her out of the house and then they left for their afternoon alone.
"Where are we going?" Sam asked when they got onto the street.
"I don't know." Daniel picked up her hand. "Where do you want to go?"
"I have no idea. I thought you had something for us to do." Sam raised a eyebrow.
"My only plan was to get out of the house and be together, just the two of us. I thought about seeing a movie together, but then I remembered the last time we did that. You fell asleep." Daniel said with a light tone.
Sam smiled at him. "Do you want to go shopping?"
"Shopping?" Daniel was less than enthusiastic.
"We don't have to." Sam sounded disappointed.
"Was there something you wanted to shop for?" Daniel asked, cautiously.
"The baby needs clothes. I suppose I could go tomorrow if you want to stay home with him." Sam said, quietly.
Daniel seemed to think for a moment before talking. "Let's go today and tomorrow afternoon we'll do something as a family."
Sam smiled at him. "Really?"
"Yes. Why do you sound so surprised?" Daniel frowned.
"When was the last time we did something as a family?" Sam asked. He didn't say anything for a minute. "Exactly. We haven't done anything since the baby was born."
Daniel shrugged his shoulders. "You're right. What the hell have we been doing the last two months?"
"Taking care of the baby and sleeping whenever possible." Sam said, light-heartedly.
Daniel chuckled. "Do you think we should have anymore?" The question seemed out of the blue even for Daniel to be asking.
Sam didn't look at him. "I don't think we should make that decision now. At least not until we see if things get better." The question disturbed her. It wasn't something that Daniel would usually come out and ask.
Daniel squeezed her hand lovingly. "You're right. I remember when I was little. One of the first foster families that I stayed with had a newborn daughter that never stopped crying. I was a wreck for months. I vowed never to have sex because I didn't want to take the chance of having something that made so much noise. I think I was thirteen at the time."
Sam laughed. "That didn't last."
"No. It seems to be working though." Sam let go of his hand and moved away from him a couple of inches. "Sam, I didn't mean it like that." Daniel tried to apologize.
"I know we haven't…yet, but…" Sam was actually speechless.
"I know." Daniel picked her hand up again. "I won't say another word about it."
"Good." Sam felt relived that he wasn't going to talk about their sex life anymore.
"I have somewhere I want to take you today." Daniel said with a smile.
"Where?" Sam looked over at him.
"I'm not telling. We'll go later." Daniel looked at her then to the ground as they walked.
"Fine." Sam said.
They walked through the city some more and then decided to get something to eat. Daniel tried to get her to eat something more than just a salad, but she didn't. She kept insisting that she needed to lose more weight. If that was what she needed to feel better about herself, than he wasn't going to argue.
When they left Daniel led the way to the place that he wanted to show her. They started to walk toward a lake that sat just outside of Colorado Springs and she began to wonder what he was thinking. She was having a really good time with him and it was nice to feel loved again. He was himself and she started to feel more and more like her old self instead of a new mother. There was a time she had thought it was impossible to find that person again, but she no longer thought that.
"Daniel, what are you doing?" Sam looked at him, confused.
"Just walk with me." Daniel pulled her along as they walked onto the sand which had been hauled in and placed around the lake to give the appearance of a ocean rather than a middle size lake. He walked over to a beautiful sand dune and then sat down. He pulled her to sit between his legs. "Do you know what this is?"
"A lake?" Sam replied, honestly.
Daniel rolled his eyes. "No, smart ass."
Sam turned her head and smiled at him. "What is it?"
"You know all those times I left the house at night when the baby was screaming?" Daniel asked.
"I remember," Sam said, coldly.
Daniel sighed. "This is where I came."
Sam looked back out at the calm surface of the lake. "Why did you come here?"
"It's peaceful. I shouldn't have been so selfish. I should have let you have time to yourself too." Daniel said, quietly.
"Uh huh." Sam answered.
"I don't know what you were thinking I was doing, but this is it. Sometimes I would go get some hot chocolate, but mostly I stayed here." Daniel let his blue eyes wonder across the lake. It really was peaceful. Not many people bothered with the lake unless it was to jog or fish.
Sam blinked."Oh."
Daniel never took his eyes off the water. "Coming here I was able to clear my head. I thought maybe the two of us could come here together and maybe make it work."
"Daniel, I love you, but I feel distant from you." Sam said.
"I know. I'm not asking you to do anything but sit here and relax. The baby is safe and napping by now. It's just you and me and the lake." Sam relaxed against him and they sat there, watched the fish in the water and listened to the birds. It was April and still cool outside so they were the only ones there. It was peaceful and the world didn't seem so complicated.
Daniel sat there and thought about all the times he had been there alone. He went there to get away from the screaming, but what he actually did was run away from his wife and newborn son when they needed him. He didn't mean to do that but didn't know if he he'd make that mistake again.
Sam thought about what had happened in the past two months. No one had ever told her that her marriage could fall apart if she wasn't careful when they brought a new baby home. No one ever told her that she could lose the love of her life. Then there was the other side of it. She never knew that she could love someone as much as she did Jake and Daniel, well, Daniel was a different story. She had always loved him, but she had been so mad at him. She blamed things on him that weren't his fault, but he made it so easy at times. Having Jake scream for hours on end had her nerves frazzled like she never thought possible and it was easy to yell at Daniel. It wasn't only his fault that they had drifted apart. She had pushed him away in certain ways too. Like being unable to understand his reasons for leaving after they returned from Kemet. Or understand why he'd want to stay in a place that was ruled by a Goa'uld.
"Daniel?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
"Me too."
"What were we thinking?"
"I don't think we were, baby," Daniel said.
"It's hard having a baby."
"It is and JD makes it harder."
Sam smiled. "He doesn't mean to. I'm sure if he had it his way he wouldn't cry all night either."
"Maybe. I love him more than anything, but he's gonna be trouble." Daniel said.
Sam slapped his leg. "Why do you say that?"
Daniel gave her a look of mock pain. "Think about it. What does he do all day?"
"Well, he likes attention and likes to be held. What's wrong with that?" Sam asked.
"What does he do all night?" Daniel asked.
"Screams." Sam replied.
"I'm telling you, if you combine the two of those he's gonna be a trouble maker. You wait and see." Daniel smiled.
"Trouble maker or not, I'll always love him." Sam said, seriously.
Daniel nodded. "Yeah, me too. Shall we go?"
"Why not?" Sam stood to her feet and helped him up. He grabbed her hand and they walked away.
They went to a couple of stores on the way home and by the time they got there, they're hands were full with bags. The baby was glad to see them and Jack said that he weren't a problem. That made Sam so happy because it was nice to have someone to watch them so she could get out of the house with Daniel.
Sam brought the baby into the nursery to change his diaper."Did you have fun with Uncle Jack?" She cooed to the baby as she changed him. Sam tossed aside the dirty diaper and grabbed a clean one. She powdered his bottom them put the clean diaper on.
"I'm going to start dinner." Daniel called out from the kitchen.
Sam stayed in the nursery with the baby and changed him and picked up his room a little bit and then the two of them hung out in the living for a while and she played with him.
Daniel made a nice dinner for the two of them while JD sat in his baby chair while they ate and entertained himself by watching them. After dinner was done Sam fed him and after he was done he fell asleep so she laid him in his crib.
Sam and Daniel sat down on the couch and talked for a little bit. They laughed and joked about things like they used to do. In a way it was like getting to know each other all over again. The baby woke up thirty minutes after Sam laid him down and Daniel went to get him. He changed his diaper and then sat back on the couch with his wife.
"Do you know what time it is?" Daniel asked his wife.
Sam looked at her watch. "7PM. Why?"
"He's not screaming yet." Daniel said with a smile.
"Shh! You don't want to jinx it, do you?" Sam hissed.
"Hell no!" Daniel said.
Sam smiled at him and looked at the baby that was relaxing in his arms. "Do you know what we need to do?"
Daniel looked at her. "What?"
"We need to get his pictures done. Professionally." Sam said with a smile
"Yeah. You know what I was thinking?" Daniel asked with a grin.
Sam blinked and shook her head. "I have no idea."
"We should take a vacation soon." Daniel said while not looking at Sam.
"We can't right now." Sam said with a sigh.
"I know," Daniel sighed. "I was talking to Steven yesterday and he would really like to see the baby. Said he needed to see the reason why I never came back to Egypt to finish up at the dig."
"We can't travel with Jake right now. Your friend wouldn't appreciate it when he started screaming for hours on end each night. Maybe when he gets older and grows out of this." Sam didn't like the idea about going to Egypt with her baby but that was apart of who Daniel was so she wanted Jake to know that.
Daniel looked at the chubby baby. "I guess you're right."
Sam caught how disappointed he was. "Do you want to go without Jake and I?"
"No, of course not. Steven wants to see the baby and the women who finally made me settle down. I don't think he'd even care if I showed up." Daniel said without any humor in his voice.
"Well what's the matter then?" Sam asked while eyeing her husband.
Daniel looked into her eyes. "I spent eight months fixing my friendship with not only him but everyone that I used to work with. They took me back without any hesitation but now I feel like I've abandoned them again. Like I fell off the face of the Earth all over again and I don't want them to feel like I don't value my friendship with them."
Sam smiled at him. She understood what he was telling her. He cared very much for his friends even ones that once considered him nothing more than a deserter to their chosen profession and a wacko with crazy ideas about aliens. "Maybe you should go."
"No. I'm not leaving you." Daniel said, tensely.
"I think you could use a vacation. You'll enjoy being back in Egypt. I know that you loved being an archeologist and would still be one full time if your views hadn't gotten you laughed out of the profession." Sam was trying to go about this nicely without causing a situation.
"Yes, I would but I can't." While Daniel was speaking he was thinking more on the lines of he wouldn't go. Not after he found out what she was working on before she went on maternity leave.
Narim and a handful of Tollans had managed to survive the destruction of Tollana and were discovered on a recently charted planet by SG-5. They were living with a primitive race called the Calechek and didn't wish to be relocated to a more advanced world. They all agreed that technology was a curse rather than a gift since that is what they blamed for the destruction of Tollana. But they were open to a relationship with Earth, only if Sam was along. General Hammond ordered her to take part in establishing relations with the Tollans and the Calechek. As far as the report read Sam went to Cale, the name of the planet, up until she was told that gate travel would be hazardous to the baby. And each trip she'd stay behind a extra day and two, reasons unknown.
"I think you should take a trip there. You don't have to stay if you don't want to. You can come back home the next morning if you want. Just go and see them, Daniel" Sam said, softly.
Daniel forced a smiled at her. She could be understanding at times and others she could be very dense. "You know, I think you're right. I'll call Steven tomorrow and see if next weekend is okay with him. You don't mind, do you?" He said sweetly as a thought popped into his mind. He could use this to his advantage.
Sam smiled, "I just told you to go."
"Yeah, but if I come home and I'm in trouble…" Daniel started to say.
"You won't be. Jake and I will be fine. I can take care of us." He acted like she had never done anything on her own when in fact Sam had done everything on her own.
Daniel nodded. "Good."
Sam looked at the baby in her husband's arms and smiled. "You're being such a good baby tonight. Did you miss us?" He smiled up at his mother. "I missed you too. Momma got you some new clothes to spit up on. You're gonna love them."
Daniel smiled at her as she talked to the baby. She was a wonderful mother and she seemed to know what she was doing instinctively when it came to JD and his needs. He handed the baby over to her. "How long do you think we have to wait until we can all go on vacation? And I don't mean just to see my friends. I mean a real vacation to the beach or any place else we could go as a family."
"Not until he stops screaming for hours on end each night. Why are you in such a hurry to take a vacation? I remember times when we'd have downtime and you wouldn't even leave the base let alone take a vacation?" Sam said, teasingly.
"I just want us to be together as a family and to show off my son. Look how cute he is." Daniel said, quickly.
"Oh I know," Sam smiled proudly. "He's starting to look more and more like you, Daniel."
"Yeah, a little more. He seems to be a good combination of the two of us, don't you think?" Daniel asked.
Sam looked down at the baby and nodded. "I do."
"He's happy most of the time like me. But he seems to have better luck with the ladies than I ever did. And then he screams for no reason like his mommy." Daniel said.
Sam rolled her eyes and tried to hide the smile that was tugging at her lips. "You're so funny."
Daniel laughed at her. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry for a good snack. Ice cream sounds good to me. How about you?"
"It sounds wonderful, but I can't have any. I have to lose at least 10 more pounds. Besides, we don't have any." Sam said with a frown.
Daniel seemed to think for a moment. "I'll go get some. Do you want some?"
"No, I shouldn't." Sam said.
"Suit yourself." Daniel stood up, "JD, do you want to go to the store and get some ice cream with me?" He asked the baby.
The baby smiled and Daniel took that as a yes as he took him out of Sam's arms. "We'll be back in little while."
"Okay." Sam couldn't help the feeling that was building up inside of her. A feeling that Daniel was hiding something from her.
Daniel put JD's coat on and pair of little Nike tennis shoes, then grabbed his own coat. He was about to go out the door but something stopped him. He walked over to his wife and bent down and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. She smiled up at him and then he and JD left.
Sam looked around the empty room and sat back, rubbing her temples. "He's trying. He's really trying. I'm so glad because I didn't want to be a single mom..." She mumbled to herself as she waited for Daniel and Jake to return home.