Mornings and Love Part 26

"I'll never understand pregnant women," Jack said flatly, staring at Sam's plate. She smacked him lightly on the forearm and went back to her spaghetti and chocolate sauce, topped with spicy hot Cheetos with a side of garlic and tomatoes.

"Mmm…she said approvingly. "I've never actually had spicy hot Cheetos before."

"I've never felt this sick to my stomach before!" Jack said, eyeing her garlic and tomato combination as though it was going to leap up and attack him.

"Jack, that is so not true!" she said, laughing.

"No, really, it is! Ba'al and Iraqi prison hellholes have nothing on the pregnancy cravings of women!" A shadow flashed over his eyes disturbingly, but a moment later it was gone and he gave her a goofy grin.

Deciding that now would not be the time to push, Sam smiled back. "Well, when you guys manage to capture Ba'al, you can put him in the same room with me and I'll scare him into submission with my awesome pregnancy cravings, then!"

Jack laughed and his hand dropped under the table to squeeze her hand, a loving look in his gaze. Sam knew then that she'd said just the right thing, and gladness pulsed through her in time with the love she felt for him.

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"Of course," he said a moment later, "we might not capture him for a very long time. Years even."

She leaned in, listening more closely, curious.

"So that means in order to scare him with pregnancy cravings…" his gaze dropped to her womb then up to her eyes again, waggling his eyebrows.

Sam choked and coughed. "Jack!" she exclaimed, surprised at his suggestion.

Jack suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable. "Sorry," he murmured. "Forget I ever said it."

"Jack, that's not the kind of suggestion a woman forgets," she said softly. "I'm… I'm not against having kids…" She hesitated, thinking first of the fact that their status was "boyfriend and girlfriend" and not "husband and wife" then the whole pregnancy process – cravings, nausea, etc… Sam looked back to Jack's eyes, and realized the sadness in them, knowing immediately his next doubt. "And I'm not against having your kids," she amended pointedly, earning herself a look of surprise and respect. "At this point I'm just not sure…"

He squeezed her hand understandingly, and she let her words teeter off.

"Do you have a lot of brothers and sisters?" she suddenly asked curiously, surprised that the question had never come to her before.

"Actually, no. Ma O'Neill tried, of course, but she had several miscarriages. Don't ask me why," he frowned, "I was only a kid at the time; didn't understand and never asked. In all, I have one younger sister and two older brothers." He frowned again, another shadow of remembrance – perhaps regret – flashing over his face. He met her eyes a moment later and offered a small smile. "Which reminds me, I ought to let them know about…us…"

Sam nodded. "How're you going to tell them?" she asked. "Want me to tag…?"

Grinning widely, he said, "Yeah, they'll love you. Especially Ma and Liz. I've got to warn you, though, my Dad 'll give you hell in the beginning," he scowled, and she squeezed his hand again. "But he'll come around," he finished, only somewhat confidently, the question of his brothers hanging in the air.

"And your brothers?" she asked softly.

"Twins. Ma says they took 'terrible twosome' to an extreme. They'll be sure to warn you all about me."

Sam laughed. "That's what brothers are –" She stopped short. "Wait… 'warn'?"

Jack nodded. "Warn," he confirmed.

She paused. "That's okay," she said nonchalantly.

His eyebrows rose. "It is?"

"It is," she repeated. "We've taken out more system lords, replicators, and minor gou'ald wannabes than anyone else in the last century! We can handle them, too," she finished with a smirk. His responding laugh and hug warmed her.

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"…Yeah, Ma? It's me, Ja – uh, Johnny."

Sam snickered, smirking at the glare he shot at her.

"…Yeah, yeah, everything's good. Listen, how about a…a family reunion? Oh, maybe sometime in December?" Sam frowned. He was going to wait three months to tell his family about her and the baby? He shrugged as if to say, "What?" and said into the phone, "I wanted to give everyone enough time to get time off, make flight arrangements, all that…stuff," to answer Sam's unsaid question. "Yeah, the whole family…no, Ma, not Uncle Pap! MA!"

Sam snickered more loudly, and heard a faint, "Who's there with you, Johnny?" from the phone.

"Erm, this is Sam. Listen, I want to bring someone to the reunion. Yes, a woman…I know he's going to throw a fit…sorry Ma…Don't worry, Ma, Sam can handle any snakehead." Jack winked at Sam, and she giggled at the inside joke.

"Sam? As in Samantha?" Sam heard next.

"Yes, Ma. She prefers Sam, though."

"But Samantha is so pretty! Why would she want to be called such a boyish version? Maybe Sammie?"

Sam gagged and beckoned for him to hand over the phone. She mouthed, Mrs. O'Neill? to confirm Ma's last name, and he nodded as she put the phone to her ear. "Sam, not Samantha, because a Samantha wouldn't last two seconds before all the flyboys tore her apart in the Air Force, Mrs. O'Neill, ma'am."

"Oh, you're Samantha? Oh, sorry, Sam," Mrs. O'Neill corrected herself. "So we finally get to meet the 'Sam' we've heard so much about?"

Sam glanced at Jack and he watched her quizzically. "Don't believe a word of it, ma'am," she replied, "Johnny here can make any 'egghead' sound like a techno-babblin' monster," she said, stressing Jack's nickname, much to his torment and her delight.

"You mean you don't want me to believe you're smart, beautiful, strong…"

Sam blushed. She hadn't known he'd spoken of her before. "He said that?" she asked, a smile creeping on her lips. Jack shrugged as though to say "whatcha gonna do?".

"Oh, yes! We've been hearing about you for years – at least when he calls," Mrs. O'Neill replied.

"Years?" Sam said aloud. Jack blushed (Whoo-hoo! Four blushes!).

"Years," Mrs. O'Neill echoed firmly.

"Gimme that," Jack said, snatching the phone. Sam smirked and folded her arms over her chest. "Ma, I – no, Ma, I didn't ask her…Ma! No! Listen, I figured you could tell the Terrible Twos and Dad, and I'd call Liz – she what? Can I have the number? Yes, I'll actually call her! …Sorry, Ma… Alright, Ma…What!" Jack yelped, eyes wide. "Ma, please!" he groaned exasperatedly.

Sam stared, bewildered. What was that all about? she wondered.