A/N Look, I know the ages here are probably wrong for the show, but I don't really remember any specific instances of them stating how old they are so for my purposes I shall make them as old as I want. Feel free to correct me, but if it changes the storyline I'm going to pretend to not believe you.

They ended up at O'Malley's.

The silence hung heavy in the air as both parties didn't really know how to start the conversation they had been imagining, fearing, and hoping for, for the last nine years.

Finally, after a seemingly ridiculous amount of awkward silence, he asked the one question he decided was the most important.

"Why did you give up, Carter?"

She sat stunned in her chair for a moment, not expectinghim to be so blunt, then calmly reached for her beer and took a small sip.

"Because of Grace"

A perplexed silence followed.

"Sir, do you know how old I am?"

"Yes Carter, you're 36." He stated sure of himself in his answer.

"No, sir, I'm 38." She said looking down at her food, which the waitress just happened to bring during her statement. How convenient.

"I…no you're not."

"I think I know how old I am sir, and if you don't believe me check my file." She wasn't going to admit to lying to Daniel and soundly convincing him of the two year difference.

"How do I not know that?"

"How do you know I like red Gerber daisies?"

There was a moment of silence at those words, and she was kicking herself for bringing up that day during this conversation, in a rhetorical sense or otherwise.

He recovered quickly, noticing she didn't know what to say after her careless words.

"So, you're 38, so what?"

"So what? Do you know that being over the age of thirty-five makes you 85 more likely to never conceive? Much less the question of whether or not I could with the naquadah in my blood. I got to a point, just after the Prometheus incident, that I felt I had to decide between two things that I wanted."

"What do you mean decide? Like me, or a baby?"

"Yes. Grace was there, on the Prometheus. She was probably just a hallucination, but she was so real. She looked just as I'd always imagined our little girl looking, and I couldn't handle it. I realized that I had to make some choices. I couldn't have you, so I took the steps necessary to be able to have a 'Grace.' I couldn't let both dreams go, so I let you go."

Once again, her beer bottle was her refuge as she waited for his response. He looked like he couldn't catch his breath.

"Wait a minute. Our little girl. Carter? You've imagined having children with me? And… and hallucinations? There wasn't anything in your report about hallucinations. Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you talk to me about any of this?"

"For the same reason we never talked about anything for the past nine years. The same reason you never said anything, even when I showed you the ring Pete had given me. For the same reasons that still hold true today. I couldn't. I wasn't allowed and I didn't have the right."

Absorbing and understanding her answer led him to only one other question he needed answered.

"Carter, if there wasn't anything in the way and you still had to make that decision, what would it be? Me? Or a Baby?"

There was no hesitation; no waver in her voice as she made eye contact with him and stated clearly:

"You"

His hand reached hers before she could get to her beer bottle again and he held her hand on the table. The small intimate contact was her lifeline.

A small wry chuckle left her lips, and a smile appeared,as she heard him whisper:

"We're going to have to work on our communication skills."

A/N That percentage is totally and completely made up. But, for the purposes of this story it works. I'm not usually in the habit of disseminating false information but google was making me angry and not giving me what I wanted. Sorry, feel free to correct me on that as well...but, I may again feign ignorance. I hope this little twist works ok, and explains her actions enough for their relationship ship to reconcile in the minds of the readers. Would love to hear what you have to say.

Once again I say fight back again 'Story Bargaining' review only if you feel compelled to!