AN: Keep in mind, if there was a major character death, I would've put a warning on this story...

Six Months Later

Pete arrived home from work, late as usual, to find his wife curled up on the hallway linoleum, sobbing, and holding her abdomen. After last time, Pete took no chances and rushed her to the hospital. After the doctor had delivered the devastating news to him, he entered her room cautiously. She had already been told, and was lying on the bed, deathly pale, and staring at the wall. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she turned away as quickly as she could. He tried talking to her but received no response. He stayed until she drifted into a drug induced sleep and drove home slowly. The door had been left unlocked in his haste earlier, and he turned the handle and entered looking for signs of anything missing. On the floor, next to where he had found her, was an unopened slightly crumpled envelope. It was addressed to Gen. J. O'Neill. There was a stamp on it indicating the reason it had been returned. A black pen had slashed through entire label making it difficult to tell whether or not he was not at the current address or deceased. He flipped the envelope over and ripped it open. Why would his wife be writing to him? In the three and a half years they had been married, this man had not had any contact with his family, so why now? He scanned the letter and threw it aside. It was a short update on her life. He had seen the emails she had received from Daniel and this was nothing like it. What he read appeared wooden and formal, where as Daniel's emails were always full of news and friendly gossip. True, Sam hadn't received one in many months, but that was becoming the norm. He had hoped that she was finally letting go of the SGC.

The next day he returned to the hospital. Sam was a little more responsive, but shied away from his touch. The doctor said it was normal after such a trauma, yet Pete remembered Sam crying into his shoulder the first time. When the doctor left he turned to his wife.

"Sam, it's going to be ok."

"Why weren't you here this morning?" He was startled at the cold voice.

"I had to go to work."

"No you didn't. I called."

"I was there. They didn't see me probably. Just went into my office and grabbed a few papers."

"I talked to James. He said you'd called this morning, about 8am."

James was the man who worked in the same office as Pete. When she'd called, he'd been his usual joking self, commenting on how Pete wouldn't stop talking about the baby. He also asked what she had thought of the bracelet Pete had bought. Bracelet! She didn't remember receiving any jewelry from him since their anniversary. She still hadn't responded when he had asked if the restaurant he had suggested had been ok. Sam had lied that she had to go and hung up. She was sure that he hadn't been at the office, but had called in case he had been. That had been happening fairly often before she had become pregnant again. Then Pete had started arriving home on time for the first month. Suddenly the excuses had started all over again. Same excuse every time. A new member of his team he was training, a Chris somebody or other.

After the first miscarriage she had seen several doctors, who could not come up with a reason why. Pete suggested she cut back her hours at the university and when she became pregnant again, she had. Yesterday, as she had been browsing for a crib, she had seen Pete and his new recruit, Chris. Chris was nothing like she'd first envisioned. Long legs, long chestnut hair, a hint of flirt in her hips as she walked. She had stared in horror as she watched this woman kiss her husband in a way that spoke volumes. He had reciprocated and it had all Sam could do to stay where she was. She knew that confronting him now would end up with him being hurt and her possibly charged with assaulting an officer. She may have been out of the military for a few years, but all that hand to hand combat drilled into her head, had stuck. It was like riding a bike. Instinct. The sickeningly sweet woman in the store had asked if she was ok, after seeing Sam's knuckles go white from grasping the crib too tightly. Sam forced a smile onto her face, said she'd just remembered she'd left her car unlocked and walked as calmly as she could out of the store. Not seeing Pete or Chris anywhere, she bolted for her car, slammed the door and turned the key in the ignition. She kept the tears of fury from spilling over. The last thing she needed right now was to blur her vision, start driving erratically and get pulled over by one of her husbands co-workers. Once home, she checked the garage to make sure he wasn't home. Inside, the phone was blinking, informing her of a message. It was Pete, apologizing profusely, but he would be much later than expected. She threw the phone at the wall with all her might, popping the battery out and shattering the caller id screen. Once the computer loaded she checked their joint account, looking for signs she had missed. She had done the accounting in the first few months of their marriage, but for all her genius at the impossible, balancing the books was a chore that she loathed, and took her a ridiculous amount of time. Eventually, Pete had offered to do it and she had gladly accepted. She scanned the accounts noticing nothing unusual. Remembering Pete had set up a retirement account about a year ago, she checked that, and stared in amazement. The money that had been deposited in the last few months, was only her contribution. Where was his? Looking back at the account, there were transfers to an account with a similar number, which she couldn't access. Sam almost smacked her head on the desk. Why hadn't she noticed this before? Why hadn't she checked the accounts when she had suspected him of cheating around their anniversary? She'd only had a shirt with a supposed coffee stain on it, very few phone calls to the office to go on, and she'd dropped it when nothing else had happened. Now she felt like an idiot. How obvious had it been to everyone and who else knew about it? She grabbed her keys and went to leave the house, stopping just outside the door when she noticed a letter poking out of the mailbox. She pulled out the envelope and scanned the front. Shocked, she walked back into the house and her legs crumpled as she read the label again. The dam of tears overflowed, and she lost herself in her sorrow.

The doctor returned several hours later and spoke to them both. He asked if there had been any unusual stress in her life recently. Pete jumped in before Sam could say a word, talking about how she'd cut her hours back after the last time but other than that nothing else struck him as unusual. Sam gave the doctor a blank look, still in shock from the events of the past few days. The remainder of the day passed in a blur, and she barely remembered the drive home, or Pete carrying her into their room, placing her on their bed, and shutting the door. She couldn't sleep as her mind was working overtime, running over the different options she had. Pete returned with some of the drugs the doctor had given her and she took them from him. She took the ones to help her sleep knowing that right now, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep on her own.