I wish I owned it, but I don't

We are nearing an end, just one more chapter after this one.

Thanks for hanging in for the last eighteen chapters. Hope you all like this one too.

And apologies to anyone named Annabelle, you will see why later. It is nothing personal against you, just part of the story.

CHAPTER 19

Sam's labor progressed slowly. Although they had been admitted over five hours ago, they were still no further along then when they had come in. Her contractions were still five minutes apart, too spaced out to deliver, and she had yet to dilate any further. The doctors were beginning to get concerned due to the severity of the situation; they felt that the sooner she delivered the better, but it was obvious that this was going to take a lot more time. Sam's blood pressure was still on the high side which was causing even more anxiety for the doctors.

Jack was doing the best he could to help. He had been glued to her side for the past five hours, having not left the room at all. Their friends had been hanging out in the waiting room until about forty-five minutes ago when Jack had finally been able to convince them to go home.

The doctors were in every twenty minutes to check how things were going. Sam was still hours away from delivery, a fact that did not make her very happy. While the contractions were still spaced out, their intensity had been increasing. Needless to say that Sam was not in a happy mood.

- - - - -

The next time that Jack actually looked at the clock it was three a.m.; they had been there for around ten hours now. Sam had somehow managed to fall asleep at some point which Jack thought was good. He was just about to settle back down and try to catch a few more minutes of sleep when the equipment in the room started to beep. Suddenly the door opened and doctors and nurses rushed into the room to see what was going on.

"Janet, what is it?" Sam asked. She had woken as soon as the first alarm went off.

"The baby's heart beat is dropping. Sam, I need you to role over onto your side please."

After five minutes the alarms were still going off and Janet and the other doctor did not look too happy.

"Okay Sam, we are going to take you into the delivery room now."

"Janet, what is it?" Jack asked.

"The baby's heartbeat is too low; we are going to have to do an emergency c-section. We need to get this baby out now and get it stabilized."

The room went into overdrive. Nurses rushed into the room and began to prepare Sam to take her to the O.R.; within two minutes Sam was on her way to the delivery room.

Jack followed along holding her hand. They wheeled her into the room and as Jack was about to follow Janet put a hand on his arm.

"Jack, its hospital policy that you do not enter into the operating room. I know you're worried but I will make sire that someone keeps you updated along the way."

"Thanks Janet. Do me a favor and tell Sam that I love her."

- - - - -

Jack headed to surgical waiting room where he would have to stay until the doctors were done. He headed over to the phone and called Daniel.

"Jack, is that you?"

"Yeah Daniel, it's me."

"So what is it?"

"We don't know yet Daniel."

"It's been ten hours and she hasn't had it yet?"

"Danny, there has been a complication. The baby's heartbeat dropped and Janet rushed Sam into the O.R.; they are doing an emergency c-section as we speak."

"Jack, I am heading over there right now."

"Thanks Danny; I appreciate it."

- - - - - - -

"Okay Sam, are you ready?" Janet asked.

"I think so."

"Good. Doctor Cunningham is going to give you some anesthesia, so I need you to calm down."

"Okay."

Janet went over to her friend and took her hand.

"It's going to be okay Sam; everything is going to be okay, I promise."

"Doctor Frasier, we're ready now."

"Good; let's get this baby out."

- - - - - - -

Jack was working on his second cup of coffee when Daniel walked through the door. It wasn't hard for him to find his friend; Jack was the only person in the waiting room.

"Any word yet?"

"No Daniel, not yet. The nurse said they got started about two minutes ago, so we should hear something soon."

- - - - - -

"Alright people, we are almost done." Janet said. "How is mom doing?"

"BP is up, but other than that she's fine."

"Good. Allison, why don't you go and tell Colonel O'Neill that he was a wonderful baby…" Janet started to say as she reached in to grab the baby. Reaching what she wanted, she carefully lifted it out. "Girl."

As soon as Janet pulled her out, the pediatrician and NICU team took her. They walked to the other side of the room and begun their work on baby girl O'Neill.

- - - - - -

Jack and Daniel were sitting in the waiting room when a nurse walked out.

"Colonel O'Neill?"

"How is it going?"

"Dr. Frasier asked me to tell you that you and the major have a baby girl."

"A girl?" he asked.

"Yes sir; congratulations."

"Thank you Lt."

- - - - - - -

"Are you ready to close Doctor?"

"Just about…"

"Doctor, her BP is falling."

"Shit, she's bleeding out."

"Doctor?"

"We need to stop this bleeding or we are going to loose her."

"What do you want to do Doctor?"

"We are going to have to repair the tear. Get me a bag of type specific, I have a feeling she is going to need it."

"What would you like me to tell the Colonel?"

"Nothing right now." Janet said, looking down at her friend. Sam was almost as pale as the sheet that was covering her. 'Come on Sam, don't do this please' she thought to herself.

- - - - - -

It had been over a half an hour since Jack had been told that he had a daughter, but no one was willing to tell him anything about Sam. When ever he asked about her they simply told him that as soon as they knew anything they would let him know. He had a gut feeling that something was wrong, they just weren't saying anything.

Janet came walking out the door a few minutes later and headed over to him.

"What's going on Janet?"

"Jack, there was a complication with Sam. After the surgery she began to bleed out. It took a while but we were finally able to stop it. She is being taken to post-op right now and you'll be able to see her in an hour or so."

"How about my daughter?"

"They took her down to the NICU. We can go down there and find out, okay?"

She led him down to the NICU department and introduced him to the team who would now be responsible for his daughter's health.

"Jack, this is Dr. Ryan, the head of the NICU. He will personally be overseeing your daughters' care."

"Colonel O'Neill, I am going to come straight out and tell you what is going on. Your daughters' lungs have not been fully developed and therefore she can not breathe on her own right now. We have her on a respirator to assist her with that. She is also extremely small; she weighs only three pounds right now and measured just over fourteen inches. She may be really small, but she appears to be a fighter."

"What are her chances?"

"The next forty-eight hours are critical. If she makes it through that then she should be fine. She is going to be in the hospital for awhile, but other than that there shouldn't be any problems."

"Thank you doctor."

"Have you and Major Carter picked out a name yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Let us know as soon as you do."

- - - - - - - -

He walked into Sam's room and sat down next to her bed. It had only been three hours since she had come out of surgery, but she was already starting to wake up.

"Jack?"

"Hey there mom; how are you feeling?"

"Sore, tired. What happened?"

"There was a slight problem with the surgery. You were bleeding pretty badly there for a while and it took Janet about half an hour to get it under control."

"What about the baby?"

"She's a little small, but the doctor said her chances are good."

"A girl?"

"Yeah, and you were so sure it was a boy." He said with a smile. "She's about three pounds and on a respirator to help her breathe, but she should be okay. We should probably think of a name for her."

"I didn't really think of any names for a girl."

"Well then Ms. Carter, you have come to the right place. Names for our little girl are all I have been thinking of for the past couple of weeks."

"Is that so?"

"Yup. You always did say I had a one track mind."

"So, what did you come up with?"

"How about Emily?" he asked. Sam shook her head no and he named off a few more. "Hannah? Alicia? Annabelle?"

"Annabelle? Are you out of your mind?"

"Okay, so that's a no for Annabelle. What about Samantha?"

"And what would you call her?"

"While Sam of course."

"Then what about me? Are you going to go back to calling me Carter?"

"Well, you won't be Carter for much longer. I'll just call you Sammy."

"You do that and I'll kill you."

"Alright then; how about Grace McKenzie? After my grandmother and your mother."

"Grace McKenzie O'Neill; I kind of like that."

"Good, then Gracie it is."

There was a knock on the door and the crew walked in. Janet, Daniel, Teal'c, Ferrirti, Hammond and Jacob Carter were all there.

"Okay, this is an awkward question, but whose watching the base?"

Hammond laughed before answering "We left Colonel Reynolds in charge."

"Alright, now that we have settled the problem of who was left in charge at the base, let's hear about my granddaughter." Jacob O'Neill said.

"She's over at the NICU right now dad. All we know is that she has a fight ahead of her."

"Does she at least have a name yet?"

"Yes, after much debate we have agreed upon Grace McKenzie O'Neill." Jack said.

"That is a very beautiful name Sammy; mom would have loved that."

"I know dad; actually the name was Jack's idea."

"Really?"

"Yeah, well she didn't like any of my other ideas."

"I was not going to name my child Annabelle."

"Annabelle?" everyone chorused

"What? It's a good name."

"For a cow maybe." Daniel said.

"Whose side are you on?" Jack asked.

"Your daughters"

"I do not understand Daniel Jackson; is it an earth tradition to name your child after a large farm animal?" Teal'c asked.

"No Teal'c; I think Jack was just joking. Right?"

"Sure space monkey."

"I do not find the humor in that O'Neill."

"Danny will explain it to you Teal'c."

"Very well."

-- - - - - - -

The next forty-eight hours went by slowly for Sam and Jack. They received updates on Grace's health five times a day from the team of doctors and nurses that were assigned to her care. The day after she was born they were finally able to go down to the NICU to see their daughter.

Grace was in an incubator with a couple of wires attached to her. The nurse said that this was normal for her condition—that they were necessary for her care. She was sleeping and oblivious to the fact that her parents were in the room with her.

"How is she doing?" Jack asked.

"She's doing great. She has already improved and we think we might be able to take her off the respirator in a day or two."

"That soon?"

"She is already trying to breathe on her own, she is just having some difficulty doing it."

"Already like her mother; she has to show everyone that the norm does not apply to her." Jack said.

It was at that point that Grace, seeming to have recognized her parents voices, opened her eyes. Jack could tell right away that were more similarities between mother and daughter than their simple strength of will. Grace's eyes were the same exact shade of blue as Sam's.

"She even has your eyes Sam."

"She'll probably outgrow that Jack, most babies do."

"I hope not." Jack said as he watched his daughter close her eyes and go back to sleep.