Authors Notes
-I want to say thanx to DragonReader for a long pm about the ins and outs of childbirth, I did actually know many of the terms because I have been researching a lot about it recently, knowing about your experiences was useful though
- I understand that labor usually lasts longer than I have portrayed it here but there are some people lucky enough to have a baby within short amounts of time!
-Please forgive me for anything I have wrong in here, despite different sources of information I still have no idea what exactly I'm doing!
-I now have a list of people I will be thanking on the final chapter; I also have a request for any vidders out there who would be willing to do a storyvid…
-I'm an idiot - I watch reckoning – Daniel dies, I watch Threads – Jacob dies and tomorrow I am going round a friends house to see Meridian where Daniel dies again! I will have spent most of my weekend crying!
Anyway, enjoy and rmember I gave it my best shot!
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Chapter 20: Not Now
Sam's reflection stared at her in an almost questioning way as she stood before the mirror in her room, she was dressed in tank top, combats and boots, her dog tags were cold against her skin, she could feel them but they were not visible. She picked up the brush once more to neaten her hair, an action she had been repeating obsessively over the last 10 minutes, once the brush returned to its spot on the dresser she pulled the dog tags from under her top and the tags collided creating the jingle of metal on metal as they stopped suddenly at her chest. She so desperately wanted to look normal; she wanted to be soldier Sam with a P90 in her hands running through a forest packed with Jaffa, adrenalin making her heart thunder against her chest, instead she was simple Sam with a baby in her belly, brush in her hand, about to give a tour of the base to her new CO. Once more she regarded herself in the mirror before turning sideways; the black tank top did not make her appear any slimmer, she was undeniably huge, and not only did she look large but she felt the same way, her ankles were sore, her back ached and her overwhelming desire to eat and sleep made her feel like marching up to Mitchell and telling him to go to hell, he could find someone else to give him a tour of Cheyenne Mountain.
As her anger suddenly flared a spasm from her abdomen caught her off guard, she gasped and her hand flew to where the pain had now dissipated. She had been experiencing these pains on occasions over the past couple of days, she had been to see Janet about them but Janet was sure she wasn't going to go into labor anytime soon. Once assured of this she had been continuing with her duties on the base, trying her best to ignore these sudden cramps.
After Jack's return from his previous assignment, the pair had spent a pleasant couple of days together, Sam had planned to work late on Jack's first evening back on a device that SG-10 had recovered, it seemed to be of ancient design and she had planned to delve in the mysteries of the mechanism for at least a few hours before perhaps grabbing some sleep, instead her plans were crushed as Jack literally dragged her away from her lab to have dinner with him, as it turned out the night out was much better than the night she had had planned and after the meal Jack had invited Sam to stay at his house, she was dubious at first but the power of persuasion granted Sam a nice night curled in Jack's arms on his couch, the following night Jack had organized a night out under the stars and the final night before he was due to go off world again they had lain in his bed, kissing and whispering sweet nothings before falling softly to sleep. Jack had so far been off world for a day, as it was only recon he was due back tomorrow at 0900, only 24 more hours she would have to wait. Before he left, he had kissed both Sam and her belly while Daniel and Teal'c stood behind him smirking at how passé the scene clearly looked, even Sam suspected Jack was becoming a bit…"mushy" overall this did not seem a bad thing though and she had accepted the valediction with a gracious smile.
Now she ambled down the corridors to meet Mitchell at the elevator, she was stood waiting for only 5 minutes before the doors slid open and Mitchell came into view reading through a classified report
'Sir,' Sam greeted, alerting him to her presence
'Morning Major' he gave her a smile as she walked to accompany him and the elevator doors closed 'How are you and your…daughter?'
'We're fine thank you sir,' aiming a weak smile at no one in particular she slid her arms around her swollen belly, it was making her extremely self-conscious 'and you?'
'I'm very good thank you… so where are we heading to?' it was clear that neither felt entirely comfortable in the company of the other, there were a few moments of shifty behavior; looking around the elevator, twiddling thumbs and adjusting posture before Sam began an explaining today's agenda
'Well-' she was cut off as a yell replaced her words, the pain was like a sharp period cramp again but the intensity had heightened
'Are you okay Carter?' Mitchell had a hint of fear in his voice as the realization of what could be happening dawned on him, Sam made no response, instead she backed into the wall of the elevator and slid to the floor as another spasm came and went 'Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me!'
'No, sir, I'm okay, Janet said this kind of thing happens, it doesn't mean anything,' She stood again, slowly and shakily, Mitchell stepped forward to assist her but she pushed him back
'It doesn't mean anything Mitchell!' she clenched her teeth as more pain made her shake, Mitchell's gaze had fallen from Sam's face to the patch of liquid that was slowly expanding at the crotch of her combats
'That does,' he commented, pointing out the fact Sam's water had just broken 'Carter, we have to get Dr Frasier,'
'Oh God!' Sam's legs buckled and she fell to the floor of the elevator again, the contractions were getting increasingly painful and closer together, wasn't this supposed to take hours? It was rolling out in minutes! 'You need to get me to the infirmary!'
'I don't know where the infirmary is!' Mitchell panicked and prayed that he would not be the one that had to deliver the baby, looking up at the floor numbers which were steadily increasing he recalled the infirmary was on one of the lower levels 'I know where the briefing room is though, and that's closer,'
'The briefing room!' Sam cried incredulously
'Well it will be empty; Hammond and the other SG teams that aren't off world are having a briefing at the Whitehouse,' The elevator came to a halt and as the doors slid open Mitchell hauled Sam to her feet and they made their way to the gate operations room
'Walter! Dial P76-890! Tell Colonel O'Neill he needs to get back here fast, Carter has gone into labor…get someone else to get Dr Frasier to the briefing room as well! Now!'
Sam, being supported by Mitchell fell up the stairs to the briefing room, as another contraction left Sam unable to do anything but cry out, Mitchell was forced to pull her towards the opposite wall and set her down beneath the window which looked down on the Stargate. Sam could hear Walter's voice pronounce each chevron encoded and the seventh locked before the kawoosh roared and the light from the wormhole tinted Mitchell blue
'Carter, You're gonna have to take your pants off,' Sam wasn't the only one surprised as the statement slipped from Mitchell's mouth
'What! In front of you? No!' Sam folded her arms, adamant that she wasn't going to start stripping in front of her new CO
'Look,' Mitchell heaved a sigh as he cast around. His eyes finally settled on the flag of the SGC outside Hammond's office, rushing over to it, he whipped it off of the pole and threw it to Sam 'Cover yourself up and I'll close my eyes,'
Sam begrudgingly covered her legs with the flag and pulled off her wet combats and underwear, meanwhile Mitchell wandered around with his eyes closed and ended up sprawled over the briefing table
'You done?' he wheezed, returning to a more dignified standing position, another contraction answered for him and he opened his eyes to see the gate shut down and then start to redial, obviously from O'Neill's end this time. 'Okay, err…Breathe?'
Sam rolled her eyes as she commenced with breathing exercises
Mitchell echoed the breathing like he was the one leading the exercising; Sam would have laughed if she hadn't been in so much pain.
'Colonel O'Neill is coming through the gate now and he's running…'
'Thank you Mitchell, you've been so much help,' the sarcasm in her words slapped him around the face
'Sam!' Jack and Janet said her name in unison as they charged up the stairs, Janet carrying a bag of medical equipment and Jack taking off his mission gear, Mitchell backed away as Jack took place at Sam's side and Janet lifted the flag to see how dilated Sam was
'Seems I was wrong about the pains Sam, You've technically been in labor for the past couple of days…you've dilated quickly, I can see the baby's head,'
'It hurts,' Sam whined, every muscle in her body was tense, sweat and tears drenched her face, one contraction was not distinguishable from another, a dull and continual pain hammered at her body and she wished it would stop, God, she wished the world it would stop. Jack did not know what to say, all he felt he could do was offer his hand, Sam gasped it and made him regret his decision as his fingers were crushed
'Son of a Bitch, you did this to me!' She breathed; Jack was stuck between amusement and fear, she was not wrong.
'Sam, I need you to push for me, can you do that?' Janet looked up at her hysterical friend, she knew how hard it was and how Jack and Mitchell couldn't even begin to understand. Sam nodded and braced herself
'Okay, now,' Sam held her breath, tensed and pushed as hard as she could, she wasn't entirely aware what was happening, her mind screamed, her muscles burned and all she knew was she wanted this to be over
'Oh God, Oh God!' she sobbed, she tried to move but Jack held her down, she wanted to hit something but all she could do was scream and cry, if only Mitchell was closer…
'Sam you're going to have to push again,' Janet had a grip on the baby's head but Sam would have to strain her body one last time to enable her to pull the baby out safely
'I can't!' Jack could see how tired she was and how her body screamed for blissful unconsciousness, she could not give up yet though, not now, not after everything; 6 months of the pregnancy from hell and days of pains, it all came down to this moment, after this maybe it would all seem worth it, their daughter would be worth it.
'Look at me Sam,' Jack placed his hand on her cheek and guided her gaze towards him 'You can do this! I know you can! I have every faith in you!' There were several moments of sincere stares before Sam placed her hand on his cheek
'You better be right,' she brought Jack forward and kissed him softly on the forehead
'Okay Sam we need to do this now,' Janet was all for sweet moments but it was not healthy for the baby to be in this mid-state for long, she received another nod from Sam as her hand returned to support her weight
'I can do this, I can do this,' once again she gathered a breath and once again her muscles tensed
'1, 2, 3,' Sam used every bit of strength she had left and pushed, Jack held her hand and tight as she held his, Mitchell stood with his mouth half open and Janet eased the baby girl into the world.
Little lungs started to work and a wail filled the briefing room, Sam slumped against the wall, all pain diminishing and exhaustion talking its place
'Holy…' Mitchell pulled out a chair and fell into it but he was barely noticed, Janet had cut the baby's cord, checked heart rate, lungs and bundled Sam and Jack's tiny daughter in a towel she had procured from the medical bag
'Congratulations, you have a healthy baby girl,' Janet handed the little human to Jack thinking with absolute certainty that this was the highlight of all her time at the SGC, she had helped bring life into the world whereas usually she saved people from going out of it.
'Oh, she's beautiful, and so tiny.' tears still rolled down Sam's cheeks but they were for happiness now, not for pain
'She is,' Jack smiled, just as overcome with emotion as Sam, and just to think, he had almost missed it! Sam reached forward and touched her daughter's cheek, her skin was soft and pink, the cries had ceased and she looked up at her parents with big blue eyes, tiny mats of mousey brown hair covered her head and her little hand grasped for Sam's finger, she would not be aware of her birth or her first few moments for life but Sam and Jack made a silent vow to tell her one day, they were sure she would listen, it was as interesting as any trip through the Stargate.
The souls of two lovers were bound by another new life, half and half, she was theirs…
'You know,' Mitchell commented from his slouched position on one of the briefing room chairs 'I don't think Hammond's going to be very happy about the carpet…'
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Bloody Hell I did it! I wrote the chapter! I couldn't even begin to say whether it is decent or not but I did it all the same! That was the first labor and birth I have ever written!
Right, One last chapter and I am done…for this fic! I will be back! I will probably post last chappie of this and 1st chappie of Conviction same day so watch out for it! I can't promise the best of summaries…
I want to make an odd request and ask – could I please get up to 100 reviews! Please don't leave me on 99 or anything! Over 100 is fine of course… XD
Next Chapter: Baby Days, There is a baby shower for soon to be named baby Carter/O'Neill, Jack contemplates a big question…