AN: How's everyone doing? Vote today? Go handle that. It's important.

Chapter 7

"Sir, she really can't stay in the infirmary." The temporary CMO of the SGC told General Hammond in Janet's former office.

"Well, where pray tell do you suggest I put her?" Hammond demanded of the slender middle aged man.

"Respectfully, Sir, if someone gets infected with a Goa'uld, who do you think they will go after first as a hostage?" The doctor said, glaring at his boss.

George Hammond scowled. "Point taken." He looked around. The new guy hadn't changed things around much. Almost like he knew this wasn't permanent. "What do you suggest?"

"She still needs medical care. I understand your concern over Bauer. He tried to barge in yesterday. I had the SF's block him from entering as he had no business clodding his way through my infirmary. It didn't take much persuasion. Everyone on this base hates the guy."

George snorted in amusement. "Not half as much as they love Major Carter. Somehow everyone found out he threatened her." He said thoughtfully. Suspecting Teal'c, though he could never prove that.

The CMO whose name was Smith nodded. "There is an obvious solution, sir." He answered and started to explain.

"That's going to cause a hornet's nest of trouble."

"She's in no condition right now to have any of that sort of fun, sir, and he has a right to spend some time with his child before he's convicted and, if he's not, he'll resent being kept from her."

Hammond nodded slowly. He then wondered whether the doctor meant Sam or the baby.

"I'll have my staff checking on her every hour the first few days anyway. By the time she's well enough that twenty four hour care isn't a requirement, it won't matter."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's been my experience with the military, sir, that once something is a particular way for more than a few days people stop questioning it." He said it dead pan but his eyes twinkled in amusement.

George nodded and gave him an amused smile. "You might just be right about that. All right. You can move her to the guest quarters under those conditions and hopefully this won't bite us in the ass too hard later." He thought about it a bit. "Don't say anything to either of them about the change until it's too late for either of them to object without feeling foolish or ungrateful."

"Duplicity is my middle name, sir."

"I thought it was Robert."

Dr. Smith laughed.

A pair of orderlies came into Sam's isolation room shortly after she'd finished feeding the baby. Jack was propped in a corner dozing. As an SF was stationed outside her room, he'd been allowed to stay with them after the birth, mostly to help her to the bathroom and hold the baby when she needed rest.

Unknown to either Jack or Sam, their coworkers had bought the baby clothes, diapers, and other baby paraphernalia which was neatly organized in one corner of the guest suite. As they didn't expect any other babies, they would be wheeling the medical bassinette into the guest suite next to the bed for Sam.

Sam looked up at the orderlies in drowsy confusion. "What's going on?"

Dr. Smith came in. "We are moving you to one of the guest suites. It will be quieter for you and the baby. A nurse will come in and check on you every hour. There's less likely to be a safety issue if something untoward happens if you aren't here to be a safety risk."

Sam looked startled.

"Makes sense, Carter." Jack mumbled from his chair, still half asleep. "All it takes is one wigged out snake and boom our kid is a baby megalomaniac."

Sam looked a little taken aback.

"Let's go get you settled in, ma'am. We have a wheelchair ready for you. Sir, could you take the baby please and follow us." One of the orderlies said as the other helped a still somewhat bewildered Sam into the wheelchair.

"I don't see why I can't just go home." Sam insisted to the orderlies in the elevator. Jack said nothing, just stood cuddling their daughter behind Sam.

"Sorry, Ma'am, we're just following orders." She was told in a disinterested tone. Jack's ever present guards remained silent.

Clearly no one had told the help anything, Sam huffed. She wanted to go home, to sleep in her own bed... okay... Jack's bed technically. She wasn't planning on staying there once he was free so she hadn't bothered to bring much of her stuff over to his house. But she wanted to flop down on that big bed and wallow in self pity all by herself for at least a little bit. Realistically even if he beat the charges, they still couldn't be together. But they could co-parent which would give them an excuse to spend more time together. For all intents, even that was going to be hard on them emotionally. It didn't stop her from wanting to sleep, hugging his pillow, or beating herself up about wanting to do so.

"Penny for your thoughts, Carter?" Jack asked her softly from over her shoulder.

Sam just shook her head. 'Not with the orderlies right here.'

Jack nodded in understanding. It was a lot to soak in. And he didn't want to say anything but she'd been a bit emotionally leaky the last few days. Daniel said it was hormonal but Jack had his doubts. Sam was very careful not to fall apart in public but he'd be a liar if he said she'd never sobbed in his arms with or to the point of exhaustion or heart break over the years.

When they wheeled Sam out on the same floor as Jack, he chuckled and joked they could chat in Morse code if they got adjoining rooms but the orderlies stopped at Jack's door. When the SF's opened the door for them, Jack's jaw worked up and down a few times then clenched... trying to decide if he should say something or not.

Sam saved him the effort. "Uh… guys… I think you have the wrong room. This one is occupied."

"Oh good. Sir, they're here." Daniel said to General Hammond who was artfully arranging a shelf of books and baby toys near the TV. "Come on in."

"Major, Colonel." He said seemingly absently.

Both Sam and Jack knew this was an act and looked at their commanding officer with mild alarm.

"Under the current circumstances, it's best Major Carter has twenty four hour help caring for her newborn… and I can't imagine anyone better suited for the job then the baby's father, considering he doesn't have much else to do otherwise."

George wasn't wrong, Jack mentally groused. He'd gotten very caught up on the flagging base paperwork that had piled up under his temporary replacement who had left it in an even worse state than it ever was under him before their disappearance. "Uh... sir…"

George waved him off though. "Sam is in no condition to take care of herself right now, Jack, and I don't have extra manpower to reassign to her care. This solves the problem rather neatly, wouldn't you say, son?"

Jack's jaw worked a few times, trying to figure out what to say.

"He does have a point, Jack. Sam looks exhausted and you're starting to get bored. Now you can help each other out." Daniel said cheerfully.

"It is an excellent solution, O'Neill." Teal'c chimed in from where he was carefully folding tiny clothing.

Without waiting for an answer, Hammond started shepherding the rest of SG-1 out of the room. "We'll leave you three to get settled. A nurse will be in to check on you in about an hour, Sam. Try to get some rest." He said to Sam kindly and patted her shoulder gently as he walked by.

"Er… yes sir." Sam told him mystified.

George gave Jack a conspiratorial wink as he closed the door behind him.

Sam and Jack didn't move or speak for several long moments. Finally Sam regained her voice. "What the hell was that?"

Jack shook his head. "The most optimistic offensive maneuver I've ever seen in my life." He said in awe. He swallowed and looked down at Sam. "Nugget seems to be asleep. Why don't I put her in her bassinette and help you get comfortable on the bed?"

"But—"

"Ah! No buts, Carter. You gave birth. I didn't. You get the semi comfortable government issue bed. I get the couch."

Sam's mouth snapped shut in a perturbed frown.

"If I nag the guards enough, they usually bring me new DVDs." He wheedled.

Sam chuckled and shook her head. "I can get to the bed by myself. I'm sore not crippled."

"Can't say the same for my hand."

"I said I was sorry." Sam said with a pout.

"I won't be able to play my guitar for weeks." He said and put his hand out to give her something steady to pull herself up on.

Sam had long ago gotten over believing accepting help was a weakness in Jack's eyes and gratefully took his hand to stand.

"There we go. Are you hungry? I'll tell the guys to bring you some food. Is there anything you want in particular? I can probably talk Teal'c into getting us some takeout." He said hopefully as he followed her to the bed, not certain she was as steady as she was pretending to be.

Sam stopped and mentally counted to ten. He's just trying to help, she reminded herself. When she reached to arrange the pillows, he handed her the baby and nudged her aside to arrange them for her so she could sit up and see the TV.

"I'll have Danny get your laptop. You must be bored out of your mind by now." Jack chattered as he took the baby back and gently laid her in the rolling cot and scooted it over next to the bed.

Sam looked at him oddly. Was he… he was. Jack O'Neill was as nervous as a groom. It was… well, really it was utterly adorable and if it wasn't for the cameras watching their every move she'd have kissed him.

"So on the up-side, we can say anything we like because there's that whole attorney client privilege thing here and you know Walter so he just sort of accidently on purpose forgot to turn the mics back on after Harm left." Jack said this with a small grin.

"Did you bribe him?" Sam asked him with an amused smile that she hid by nuzzling their daughter's soft downy head against her shoulder.

"Didn't have to. He came to hang out and slipped me a note."

Sam chuckled. "He's going to be very glad about that as I'm still snoring like a warthog."

"I thought Danny was bad." Jack admitted. "You do know that might not go away, right?"

Sam gave him a horrified look.

He waited for her to be settled on the bed before sitting on the far corner. "Ah…. Carter… I should probably talk to you about this as it will affect you. Harm reminded me of a rather unlikely truth but it needs to be said… especially as Hammond seems to think that's the way things will go." But he stalled out and started picking absently at the blanket.

After a long moment of him saying nothing, Sam prompted him. "Sir?"

"Oh... oh right… so anyway… well… Harm seems to think if I do beat the charges, it's pretty likely the conduct unbecoming one will have conditions for dismissal." His mouth had squared as though he was bracing himself for something.

"That we stay away from each other… I figured that one sir." She said softly.

"Uh… actually no. Usually in cases like ours they will probably force me to retire even if I beat the charges, but the CU charge tends to have the… um… get married condition." He mumbled the last part and Sam blinked at him for a moment before she understood what he was trying to say.

"Um, anyway I figured you should know. It's not how I wanted to do things and it's totally up to you. I mean they can't actually force you as you aren't the one on trial here."

"Jack."

"Yah?" he huffed.

Sam tilted her head. "Do you want to marry me?"

Jack swallowed. "Do you want me to say what I think you want to hear or just tell you the truth?"

"The truth, Jack." She said softly.

Jack swallowed and bobbed his head a couple times the same way he had after the zar'tak test when she'd asked him to leave it in the room. "Yah, Sam… That's always been the down range plan." He admitted.

For a brief moment, she sat there quietly as she listened to his answer. Then suddenly, she smiled at him. Not just any smile, but the Sam Carter mega-watt smile. It was his smile… and it lit up the room.

"You're sure?" he finally squeaked out.

"It was always the down range plan." She repeated back at him.

"Sweet." He said and grinned like a loon.

"You told him you turned off the microphones?" Hammond asked Sergeant Harriman.

"I did, sir." Walter told George smugly.

"Good job, Sergeant. Make sure you lose that audio if they subpoena the footage. Carry on." He said and patted Walter's shoulder before going to his office. Had Jack thought he was being listened to, he never would have talked to Sam at all about this until after the trial at which point it would have been sprung on her like an uninvited guest. He knew his goddaughter would have balked at the proposal before agreeing to a marriage if it was only a condition for the court martial to be dismissed, then agreed rather then let Jack's record be tarnished. Then they would try to figure out how to get an annulment as soon as it wouldn't harm Jack's record or Sam's reputation to have done so. Their mutual self-sacrificing tendencies were getting in the way of their happiness and, after all they had been through, they deserved more.

George trusted Walter's discretion implicitly. The man could be cagier than a spook and wily as manipulative mother-in-law. George grinned. If the man had gone to officer's school, he'd be higher rank then he was himself George wagered. It was a damn shame the man didn't want that level of responsibility. He was born for it.

Now he had some phone calls to make. He knew Jack would beat these charges and they would force him into marrying Sam to correct the problem as the government saw it but George had no intention of letting Jack fade into early retirement so easily. Not after the Joint Chiefs had told him what they wanted from him in the near future. He'd put it off because the man he'd been grooming to replace him had been PKIA and George knew if anyone could beat those odds it was Jack O'Neill and his team. And he'd been dead to rights. George was whistling when he dialed the president.