Chapter 5 - Unexpected

"Sam, you okay? I looked for you in the control room, but when you weren't there, I got worried."

Terror gripped at Sam's insides as she looked up at the door. "Jack."

He looked behind him, a goofy smile on his lips. "Were you expecting someone else?"

As she often did when he joked with her, her body relaxed almost in muscle memory. "Of course not."

"Good. I was a little nervous."

Even as he approached, however, her heartbeat grew louder and more insistent. When he pulled her into a hug, she worried that he would pick up on the palpitations.

As if he could sense her reluctant embrace, he pulled back and really studied her eyes. "You're not okay. What's up?"

She wanted to tell him, wanted to spill her secret, but she didn't know how he would react, and the last thing she needed right now was for him to be unhappy. "Nothing. I'm fine."

She knew it was foolish to lie. He'd known her too long and too well to buy it, but he didn't press her. "Well, it's almost dinnertime. You want to go have meatloaf with the guys?"

Cue the gag reflex.

She raced to the bathroom, barely reaching the toilet basin in time for her lunch to come up. Perfect.

Jack pulled her hair back as he whispered encouragement and pressed a cool hand to the small of her back.

She leaned back against him as he offered her something to wash her mouth with. "You'd think the Asgard could manufacture a filter on this ship to get rid of bugs like this. No wonder you looked pale. How long has this been going on?"

She didn't want to admit that the Asgard filter did get rid of the usual stomach bug issues. Asgard matter conversion had saved them from food poisoning too.

No, the only reason she'd thrown up was because Junior wasn't a fan of meatloaf.

She leaned forward again, dry heaving at the mere thought of what everyone else was eating for dinner tonight.

"Yeesh, Carter, any chance we can get the Asgard matter converter to get you some Pepto or something?"

She heard the water run moments before a cold washcloth was pressed to the back of her neck. For some reason she couldn't explain, the nausea abated.

Forty-two years old was too old to be pregnant for the first time. For most of her friends, it was too old to be pregnant, even if it wasn't the first time.

Confident that her stomach would behave for the foreseeable future, Sam pressed herself up off the floor and rinsed her mouth out. Her heart gave generous thanks for a husband who immediately cleaned up what little mess she'd made so she wouldn't have to deal with it later.

"Seriously, Sam, once you're in bed, I'm getting Daniel to make whatever medicine will stop that from happening again. The last thing any of us needs is for you to get dehydrated."

She patted his arm as she headed to the bed, drained from the exertion. "Wouldn't help."

When her knees threatened to buckle two steps from the bathroom, Jack's sturdy arms reached for and stabilized her. "What do you mean it wouldn't help?"

He helped her sit on the bed, and as he knelt in front of her, she took a chance. "It wouldn't help because the Asgard filters do get rid of the bugs you're worried about."

There was that look which seemed to simultaneously prove that he had a brighter intelligence than he admitted and that he couldn't quite connect the dots. "Carter?"

This time, she felt sure she could blame the nausea on her anxiety instead of on the morning sickness. "Jack, we never really talked about whether you want kids."

His eyebrows shot up as one hand went instinctively to her stomach. "Kids? That's—that's an option?"

Too relieved to be insulted, she chuckled. "At this point, it's not just an option, Jack. Junior doesn't like what's on the menu."

His eyes darted down to her stomach, and his hand lightly squeezed her stomach as if to gauge how far along she was. "How long have you known?"

She bit the inside of her cheek. "Well, I didn't want to get my hopes up. I was sure it was early menopause."

His brow furrowed. "And you're sure it's not?"

She nodded, lifting her sweater so he could see how the waistband of her pants dug into her stomach. It wasn't an official baby bump, but it was evidence in the right direction. "In fact, I'm a little surprised you didn't ask until now."

He shrugged. "Hey, Mitchell's running around the ship, but I know I've put on a few pounds. I figured I wouldn't say anything."

She chuckled as she pressed her hands to his face, marveling at him. "Smart man."

"So, timeline? What are we talking?"

She shrugged. "I'm no better with babies now than I was back when we were on Argos, but if I had to guess I'm somewhere around three months pregnant."

"You couldn't just ask Thor? I mean, he did say they were watching our race, right?"

The idea of the Asgard's hologram being her de facto obstetrician was a sight that Sam couldn't unsee, and she nearly ran back to the bathroom.

Deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale.

Jack pressed the cold washcloth back against the skin at the nape of her neck, and the nausea abated again.

"You've been holding out on me, O'Neill. That's a good trick."

"Silver lining from all those concussions I've had."

She scooted onto the bed, grateful when he got the hint and sat beside her in bed. "You know, you haven't outright said you hate the idea of having kids, but I'm not sure I'd say you're enthusiastic either."

She grimaced, realizing how insensitive that comment might have been given what she knew about his circumstances. "Not that you don't have valid reasons to be concerned. I mean, if I'd been through what you've been through—"

She was grateful when Jack, even knowing she hadn't gotten a chance to brush her teeth, kissed her and shut her up. What she'd been saying had been going from bad to worse, and she knew it.

She let her brain swim in the endorphins a moment before she focused her attention back on her husband. "Jack?"

There were tears in his eyes as he put a hand on her stomach. "Sam, no matter how unexpected or disadvantaged this baby might be given our current living situation, he or she is wanted and loved."

She felt tears moisten her eyes as Jack leaned in for a hug. "Really?"

There was a sad smile on Jack's lips as he pulled her close. "Charlie always wanted to be a big brother."

Sam ran another simulation, a little irritated when Thor appeared over her shoulder and informed her once again that the function was not possible.

She leaned her forehead against an arm on the console, exhaustion settling in her bones as she turned the voice off again. At this rate, they would never get home.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

"Daniel!" Sam turned in her chair toward the door. A shadow crossed over his attempt at a smile. "Are you okay?"

Daniel swallowed as he walked in and sat beside her. "How are you feeling?"

Sam looked down at where her sweater ballooned over her lap and smoothed out the wrinkles with a gentle smile. "Uh, good. Tired, but fine. Baby's quiet today, so I might actually get some work done."

For the last several weeks, she'd been trying to cut down the length of time it would take to fully take the ship out of phase. So far, she'd managed to shave off a few seconds, but it was never quite enough.

She looked back up at Daniel who looked away as if he was trying to avoid looking at her. "Now, what about you?"

"Uh, I've been better."

Sam swallowed. From the look on his face, she could guess what was bothering him. "Vala?"

He shook his head. "Not good. As you can imagine, it's a little hard to swallow that she's never going to have another baby. That Adria was her only shot."

Sam looked down in shame. It had been up to her to tell Vala that the portable ultrasound scanner in the infirmary had suggested that her ovaries were damaged. No matter what she or Daniel might have wanted, Vala was never going to have another baby, and it felt cruel that Sam should be the one to tell her. "Daniel, I don't know what you want me to do."

He waved her concern away. "I'm really just here to say that if she's weird in the next few weeks and months, it's nothing personal."

Sam nodded, a grim smile playing on her features. "Of course. I understand. You both need to do what you need to do."

While this baby had been a very pleasant surprise, one which had brought a much-needed resurgence of hope as she tried to get her team back home, it felt strange that she, who would have been content to just live out the rest of her days as Jack's wife, would get the added blessing of a child when Vala, who had been so desperate to have another baby, would be denied.

She reached out to him. "Daniel. . ."

The archaeologist shook his head. "Hey, you and Jack deserve your own happily ever after. It's not a competition, Sam."

"I know that."

He shrugged. "We should have expected this. The Ori wouldn't have wanted the mother of the Orici to have any other children who could lay claim to their kingdom. That would just beg for civil war, even if they didn't have the same powers to prove their heritage. It's why so many of the ancient kings and queens killed any possible competition for their crowns."

Sam winced. "So, you think that what? Adria sterilized her mother when she healed her?"

Daniel exposed his open palms as if he couldn't prove anything. "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe it's a coincidence. She wouldn't be the first woman who got pregnant once and then couldn't have another baby."

Sam bobbed her head in absent thought.

"I just wish I could do more."

Sam offered him a big hug. "I'm sorry."

As he pulled away, he looked at her computer screen. "So, you're working on getting the ship out of phase again?"

She rubbed her belly as she eyed the monitor. "Maybe it sounds stupid, but I'm finding myself a little more motivated to make it to the nearest OB/GYN or midwife."

A reluctant smile played on Daniel's lips. "Makes sense."

She sighed as she looked down at her baby bump."Not that we won't have a little explaining to do when we get back to Earth with me looking like this." She gestured down the length of her body, almost hoping that they would only get back to Earth after the baby was born so they'd have a measuring stick for their time in the time dilation field. Then again, she wasn't looking forward to delivering on board the ship without a flesh and blood physician in attendance. She shoved the thoughts from her mind. "I can just hear Woolsey. Won't matter that I verbally resigned on the ship's records. I'm sure he'll find some way of trying to prove that Jack and I have broken regulations."

Daniel couldn't help but smile. "I bet Jack's looking forward to that debriefing."

Sam could have recited Jack's mounting concerns about how to explain their situation word for word, but if she could, she figured so could Daniel. "You have no idea."

She shifted, her back aching with the strain of sitting atop the stool for the last few hours.

"Sam?"

She waved Daniel's concern away. "I probably just need to take a lunch break. Jack's pretty good about coming to get me, but he must have gotten stuck playing chess with Cam."

Daniel helped her out of her seat, and she offered him a grateful smile. "Thanks."

Daniel caught her hand as she moved to walk out of the control room, and she looked back at him. "You know that this personal stuff isn't going to get in the way of helping you when the time comes, right? I mean, if I can deliver Sha're's harsesis baby, I can help you."

Sam squeezed his hand, knowing how much it must have pained him to make such an admission both because of what was happening now and because of what had happened then. "I appreciate that. I really do, but I'd be lying if I didn't want to get home before that's an issue."

Daniel raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I'll be the first person to shout a hallelujah if you manage it."

Sam grinned as she leaned in and kissed his cheek. "You're a wonderful friend, Daniel."

"You have great reason to be proud, Samantha Carter. Any mother on Chulak would be proud to have such a fine son."

Sam's eyes shone as the Jaffa held her newborn wrapped in a soft blue afghan in his giant hands. She had cried when Daniel had asked if Teal'c, who had apparently stood watch outside the door during her entire labor and delivery, might be permitted to visit before Sam got some rest. Even Jack had been a little choked up when he, after nonverbally double checking with Sam, nodded.

"I don't think anyone could complain about this little beauty either," Daniel said as he handed a second baby, this one in a soft pink afghan, to the astrophysicist.

"Indeed."

"Two for the price of one. Not bad, Carter." Jack kissed Sam's temple. "Not bad at all."

She closed her eyes as she enjoyed his nearness. "Well, if there's a next time, I say we switch jobs. You can labor for thirty-two hours, and I'll be the cheerleader."

"Not like you haven't pulled all-nighters before. In fact, one could go so far as to say you usually enjoy them."

Sam threw a mockingly irritated look at Jack though the affection in her smile had probably negated any of her teasing. For the first time since she'd known him, Jack had pulled this all-nighter with her. There had been something special and sacred in how he had encouraged her and comforted her through the whole process, his tender care of her moving her to tears even now.

She would be lying if she didn't admit that she occasionally wondered if she'd ever run out of love for him, but then something like this would happen, and she'd feel an overwhelming surge of affection which proved that what they had was here to stay. This whole pregnancy and delivery had been a series of such moments.

She looked back down at the baby as she, with eyes firmly shut, yawned and snuggled further into the blankets. The baby's soft brown tufts of hair, exquisitely long lashes, and miniature fingers curled into two fists were the picture of perfection in Sam's opinion. Her heart swelled with a wave of pure love. "Well, maybe this one wasn't so bad. The rewards beat the heck out of a dissertation."

Jack wrapped a hand around her shoulders as he leaned in close. "Well, I always knew you did good work, Sam, but even I'm impressed." He rubbed a finger over his infant daughter's smooth cheek. "Hi there, princess. It's your daddy."

The tiny figure shuddered as a sigh escaped her lips.

"Any closer to finding names for them?" Sam and Jack looked up at Daniel as he quietly cleaned up the last few traces of her delivery. "Last I heard, Jack said you were deciding between Homer and Lisa."

Sam didn't answer the archaeologist, just turned a questioning eye to her husband who pretended to check his watch. "Oh, gosh. 0300 hours. Yep. Bedtime."

Sam looked at Daniel. "In case there's any confusion, our children will not be named Homer or Lisa since we are not the Simpsons."

Jack groaned. "D'oh."

"Perhaps the names Luke and Leia would be more suitable."

Sam slowly turned an amused look to Teal'c. "Luke and Leia?"

"They are most admirable warriors."

Jack turned a confused look to Sam. "You know who he's talking about?"

She stared at her husband. "You don't?"

He shrugged.

"They're the twins from Star Wars."

Jack's eyes bugged out. "How did I not know there are twins in Star Wars?"

Sam looked at Teal'c. "I thought you guys said you were watching Star Wars like ten years ago when Orlin was in my house."

Jack gaped at her. "That was your date, Carter? I left you with pizza for Orlin?"

Ignoring Jack's indignation, Sam yawned as she leaned back against the pillows on the infirmary cot. "I think we just figured out what we're doing for the next couple of movie nights."

If she didn't know better, Sam would have guessed that Teal'c had a pleased smile playing on his lips. "Indeed."

Daniel took the baby from Sam and put her in a small wheeling bassinet which he left near the bed. "Hey, guys, I think we should let Sam and the twins rest. They've had a long day."

Jack winked at her as he leaned in for a kiss. "I love you."

She caught hold of his elbow as she kissed him back. "I love you, too."

Teal'c set the second baby beside his sister in the bassinet and put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Rest well, Samantha Carter. You have done well."

She grinned, hoping that her smile conveyed how like family she considered him after all these years—after his steadfast watch over her family last night. "Thanks, Teal'c."

Daniel shook his head as Jack and Teal'c headed out of the room. "Do you realize the last time we were all in the same delivery room was on Argos?"

Jack paused mid-step before he turned to the archaeologist. "Danny, some things never need to be said out loud."

Though the whole scene amused her, Sam's eyelids began to close of their own accord, leaving her with a single, reassuring truth: today had been a good day. A very good day.

Sam stirred, not quite sure what had awoken her when she heard the polite protest from the bassinet beside her bed. Before she could respond to the tiny cry, she heard a quiet voice. "Sh, sh, you're okay. Let's not wake your mother."

Sam cracked an eye open. "Vala?"

The alien smiled at Sam, her luxurious black hair tied up in pigtails at the top of her head. "Samantha, I thought I'd come and steal a peek, but I can come back later."

Sam sat up in the cot, wincing with the strain on her abdominal muscles as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "No, it's fine. It's good to see you."

Though Vala's lips curled upward, Sam caught a hint of sadness in her eyes, no doubt as memories came unbidden at the sight of the two newborns. "Daniel wasn't lying when he said they were gorgeous. A trait which they obviously inherited from their mother."

Sam reached out to her friend. "How are you doing?"

Vala shrugged. "I'm fine. Really. The only reason I didn't come the moment I heard was—"

"You don't have to explain." Sam squeezed her fingers. "But I'm glad you're here."

Vala looked over at the bassinet. "Daniel says you haven't decided on any names yet."

Sam shook her head. "Apparently, Jack's been trying to convince everyone that we're going to name them Lisa and Homer."

"Actually, I heard Maggie and Bart."

Sam couldn't help but chuckle. "Two more Simpsons characters."

Vala's brow furrowed before understanding dawned. "Oh, that's right. The television show."

Sam nodded. "It's Jack's favorite."

"I see."

"Teal'c thinks we should name them Luke and Leia after the Star Wars characters."

"It's a wonder that his son has as normal a name as Rya'c, isn't it?"

Sam snickered, a comment about how Rya'c might have been the star of one of Teal'c's favorite Jaffa legends on the tip of her tongue, when one of the babies jerked awake at the sound. "Oh, poor thing. Come here, sweetie."

Vala helped the baby out of the bassinet and into Sam's arms as the newborn boy snuggled in closer to his mother's chest.

As the baby quieted, Sam looked up, surprised to find Vala glancing away. "Vala, are you sure you're alright?"

The woman sniffled. "I'll be fine. I just need a moment."

Sam's heart went out to the woman. To have given birth to a child without one's consent and then to have watched that child grow at an unnatural pace to try to take over the galaxy and kill anyone who stood in her way—Sam didn't know how Vala had managed to stay so normal through it all.

"Vala, I'm here if you need to talk."

Vala wiped at her cheeks as she looked back at Sam. "They didn't let me hold her."

Sam's heart dropped into her stomach. She couldn't imagine enduring what she'd gone through to bring these babies into the world without getting to hold them to her chest and welcome them with all the love she held inside her. "What?"

Vala swallowed, her voice growing stronger. "The Ori, well their servants anyway, they told me she was a girl, and they whisked her away. Only a few hours later, they finally brought her back to see me, and she was walking and talking."

"Oh, Vala."

The woman put her hand on Sam's knee. "I'm sorry if I've been strange lately, it's just—her life was so short, and I don't regret anything we did, but it would have been nice for just a moment if I'd been able to hold my baby."

"I'm so sorry, Vala."

The other woman dabbed at her eyes. "Anyway, I should let you get some rest. You've had a long day."

Sam bit her lip, unsure if what she was going to offer would help or not. She just knew that some things needed more than just time to heal. "Vala, I don't know if it would help—and if it doesn't, just know you won't offend me if you need some space—but you can hold my babies anytime you need to."

Vala waved the offer away. "You don't need to do that, Sam. I'll be fine."

"I don't know if you've noticed, Vala, but there are two of them. Even with Jack, we're not going to be able to keep up with everything these babies are going to need from us. If we need to ask Teal'c or Mitchell for help, that's fine, but if you want to hold them, you're welcome to stop by."

A strange hope seemed to glow in Vala's eyes. "Are you sure?"

Sam nodded as her daughter stirred in the bassinet beside her. "Go ahead."

Vala got up and walked to the bassinet, hesitating as she looked down. "She's so tiny."

Sam smiled as Vala reached in and pulled the baby into her arms, gently rocking the newborn. "Oh, she's beautiful, Sam. So innocent and—"

"I know." Sam reached for and squeezed her hand as the tears slipped down both mothers' cheeks.