Part 12 underway :) Hope you like! S/J fluff at the end :)
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Mornings and Love Part Twelve
When Sam woke, her first thought was, I'm going to have a baby.
It was the most wonderful thought in the world, and she smiled down at her stomach, trying to imagine it the size of a basketball. She sat up and rubbed it underneath her shirt, wincing when she realized she'd slept the whole night through while fully clothed, bra, jeans, and all.
Yeck. A shower was definitely in order. The warm water would soothe her legs and torso.
When she had showered, brushed her teeth and hair, and dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't look bad; not fancy or sweatpants-class. Just…Sam. Simple. She felt like she was shining.
Of course, the small fact that, in nine months, there was going to be a little Carter…O'Neill?...could have contributed to it.
Was she looking good enough to visit Jack, though?
Shocked at that thought, she jabbed at herself several times about being strong, not needing to have a man (despite the fact she was head-over-heels in love with this one man in particular), and about being confident.
She grinned wildly at the memory of one of her mother's jokes: Men can smell fear, Sammie. Suck it in and be a soldier, silly! And if that doesn't work, kick 'em where it hurts.
By the time she got to Jack's place, she was feeling much more confident in herself and her abilities. However, when she got to the porch and rang the doorbell, almost all that confidence plunged down the toilet, leaving her all but defenseless.
After a moment, she heard footsteps and Jack opened the door. Shock and disbelief was donned on his face. "Carter?" he said incredulously.
She gave him a weak smile. "Hi, sir…Jack."
Smirking, he said, "Sir Jack? Am I your knight in shining armor, Lady Samantha?"
Sam giggled, the tension easing considerably between them. "As long as I'm not a damsel in distress," she said. "Can I come in?"
He nodded, moving into his living room. She followed and sat next to him on the couch.
"Hey, you want coffee?" he asked.
"Umm…I'm not sure if I can stomach it. I…I have something I need to tell you."
He nodded, eyebrows burrowing in a frown of concern. "Something wrong?" he said softly, moving closer to her, slinging an arm around her shoulders.
"No…no, I don't think so. I'm just not going to be able to stay on SG-1 for a few months…" she said, trying to cautiously ease into the subject.
"What? Why!"
"Well, the thing is…I'm…I'm…"
"Yes?" he prompted gently.
"God! Why is it so hard to say this to you? It was easier with Janet…"
"C'mon, Carter, unless you're going to tell me you've got a life-threatening disease like cancer or are pregnant, I don't see what's getting you so riled up. I'm not a hard guy to talk to," he grinned, "and you don't have a life-threatening disease and you're not pregnant."
Sam paled several shades. She looked away from his grinning face. "What…if I told you I was?" she asked quietly. She hated how her arms were trembling and her legs tense.
"Pregnant?" he asked, his voice faint. "Is…is it mine?"
"I think so. I hope so," she said, still not looking at him.
Suddenly, he jumped up, all but leaving her in an undignified pile on the floor. He danced around, whooping, punching the air with a fist, and hurried back to sweep her to her feet. He swung her around, faster, faster!
"Think this is a good thing," she managed to mumble, grinning like mad until her stomach started to erupt within her. "Jack, Jack! JACK!" she yelped, covering her mouth awkwardly in his arms.
"What? Are you okay?" He put her down quickly, and she dashed to the bathroom, hearing him hot on her heels. For what seemed to be the zillionth time, she gagged into the toilet.And, just as he did the day before, he moved her hair from her face and rubbed her back.
"I'm sorry, honey," he said sincerely. "I – I'm just so darn excited!"
When she was through puking up bile – since she didn't have anything else in her – she straightened, trying to ignore the pain in her back. "Ugh, it's okay," she said with a weak smile.
Jack pulled her into his arms and proceeded to kiss her forehead, cheeks, nose, and eyelids. "I love you," he whispered. Clearing his throat, he told her, "I'm going to retire."
Shocked, she looked up. "What!" she exclaimed.
He cupped her cheek. "Sam, I'm not going to push you into anything," he said, "but I do want this to continue, for it to grow and thrive. We do have something, right?" he asked worriedly.
Sam grinned. "Yes, we do. A very weird something, but I feel it in here," she pressed her hand over her heart, "and I think you do, too."
"More than you'll ever know," he promised.
"But it should be me that resigns," Sam said. "I'm going to be on maternity leave, and we don't know what effects Stargate travel can have on a fetus. I'm not taking the chance," she said stubbornly, meeting his look at returning it pointedly.
"Sam, my career's almost at its end," he said. "A couple more years and they'll force me to stop field work. Can you imagine me with a desk job, Sam? I'm no desk jockey. You, on the other hand, still have something going for you. It'd be a cold day in hell when I get a star."
Sam watched him intently for a moment. "Jack, my mother died when I was fourteen. Car accident."
"Oh, Sam…"
"I don't want that happening to my baby," she said. "I'm not going to battle some galactic snakehead knowing that I might not come back, knowing that my child would have to go through what I went through."
"But Sam, that possibility is still very real on earth."
"Please, Jack," she whispered, snuggling into him. "Please. This is what I want to do."
Jack hesitated for a moment, then he sighed. "I'm not going to change your mind, am I?" he asked, cradling her fondly.
Sam smiled into his shirt. "No…" she mumbled.
"Alright. You win, woman," he said, pulling her face up to look at her.
Sam giggled. "And I didn't even have to do my turtle dove duck," she teased, then she hugged him tightly. He squeezed her back. "Thank you," she whispered.
"I'll talk to Hammond tomorrow, honey."
"No, let me," she said. He nodded.
"He likes you better anyway, Sammie," Jack smirked, firmly giving her a kiss on the lips.
"I draw the line at 'Sammie'."
"Sweetie Pie?"
"Jack!"
"Cutie Pie?"
"Jack!"
"Snookums?"
"That's it, where's my zat!"