Chapter 2: A Little Change of Scenery

It had been 6 weeks sense her little confession. So much had changed and it was taking a little getting used to but she knew that somehow it would be all right. It had to be, she was bringing another life into the world.

As much as she wanted to resist knowing what the sex of her child was there was something comforting in knowing who exactly was down there. Tests indicated that she was around 13 weeks pregnant and that was going to have a girl. So here she was sitting in quarters flipping through a baby's name book. Internally she had decided that the name should have meaning either in Egyptian or have a cool definition. Sam sighed and placed her hands on her belly, pretending she could feel her daughter growing inside her.

She thought back over the past few weeks. She and Teal'c had finally come clean with the other half of SG1. They had all gone to Jack's cabin for the weekend as part of their down time for fixing Earth's timeline. After the revelation the couple had been met with shocked silence then profuse congratulation, almost too profuse. It was obvious that Jack and Daniel were not truly comfortable with this new development. But that weekend had full of news and surprises. Jack announced that he was being transferred to the Pentagon and Daniel was re-instating his application to Atlantis. When they arrived back at the SGC no one had a chance to breathe and then Sam woke up one morning and the world had changed. Teal'c had been whisked off to attend the Jaffa Council, in a matter of weeks Jack had packed up and left, and Daniel had gone recluse into his lab with Vala. Fighting back the tears Sam knew were coming she repeated her mantra to the empty room. "It's going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. It'sgoingtobeokay" A soft knock on the door brought her out of the reverie she had slipped into. Slowly pushing off the bed she padded heavily across the bare floor towards the door, making sure to wipe away on wet spots on her cheeks.

It was the last person she had expected to see at her door. But probably the one she had wanted to see the most. They had both been so busy since his posting here they hadn't gotten a chance to catch up.

The second the door was open he encircled her in his arms and dragged her over to the bed. Finally having him reach out to her she buried her face in his shirt and cried out all her hurt. And cried. And cried. And sobbed. Eventually she calmed down a little and he lied her face down on the bed rubbing circles on her back. "Sam. What's wrong Sammie?" Taking a few deep breaths she started to unload.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. Everything is all wrong. They were supposed to stay here, be happy for me. Ecstatic even. Jack was going to run the SGC and Daniel was going to stay on SG1 and remain reliable as ever. They were going to spoil her and help her cause mischief but stay out of trouble and glare at future boyfriends. Now they're running off, hiding, from me and this and everything. Uggh it makes me so mad. You know what Uncle George said to me the other day. I called him up to say hi and tell him about the pregnancy and he has the nerve, and I quote. 'Are you sure.. is this really what you want?' I thought I was going to strangle him through the phone." She took another deep breath. "I just couldn't believe it. And he has always been so supportive of me, even more so than my dad. So if I cant get his blessing what do you think my dad is going to say." She was on the verge of tears again. "Everyone is looking at me funny, strange now as if.. I'm crazy. Am I crazy Cam?"

Cameron Mitchell had met Samantha Carter half way through Academy. He and John Sheppard had been tight buddies and she their tutor. Throughout the Gulf, their weird postings, and all the red tape of bureaucratic bull they had managed to stay close. He looked over at her now, she looked like a complete mess. Lying down next to her he weighed his words carefully.

"How long have you known each other?" She smiled.

"Eight years."

"How long have you been confiding in him?"

"Six years."

"How long have you been sleeping with him?"

"Less than two years."

"How well do you know him?" She paused a minute. Thinking over all the times they had talked over the years. Cam, though, took it as a sign of hesitation. "Do you know him better than you know me?" A grin broke through her tears there wasn't anything she didn't know about Cam.

"No not that well. I don't know if I could ever know anyone more than I know you. He gave up his life to start it over here. I know more about him than I know about Daniel and once the alcohol starts flowing you learn a lot about Danny." She laughed slightly but quickly turned serious. "Honestly Cam I don't know that much about him just because there isn't that much to know, but if you want to hear his favorite color, song, commercial, movie, book and his thoughts on this world and the Gou'ald then yes I can help you." She shrugged. It wasn't like they were getting married.. they were committing themselves to each other, preferably forever, to have a baby. Yea, no big deal.. right?

"God Cam, what am I thinking. I want this child so badly, I do love him. He's been there for me sine the day we met, most days I seriously believe that the only reason I am alive and still sane is because of him." Suddenly she sat up, ramrod straight, an idea formulating in her mind. "I need to talk to the General." She whispered. Launching herself off the bed and through the corridors she made her way to General Landry's office, Cam hot on her heels.

"Sam.. why are we running? Sam, Sam you need to calm down." He was jogging to keep up with her and worried that she was about to make a rash decision.

"I don't need to calm down I need a transfer." Sam mumbled under her breath and continued full on towards the General's office.

Finding him alone in his office Sam knocked politely on his door. "Come."

She opened the door and came to attention in his office. "Sir."

He nodded and went back to his paper work. "What can I do for you Sam?"

Standing at parade rest and gathered her courage. "I would like to be transferred sir."

That got his full attention and he gestured for her to sit. "Where to Colonel? Is there something wrong?"

Sam folded her hands in her lap and looked him in the eye. "Dakara sir."

Realization dawned on Hank. Sam had come forth about her pregnancy and the father she had been willing to come off SG1 to head the science department. She had been fully cooperating with rules and regulations this was the first thing she had asked for with concern for the baby. No more questions asked or needed he nodded. "I'll need the Presidents permission on this one. Anything else you need Sam?" Looking up she appraised him.

"Just one thing sir, silence. I would like for as few people to know as possible until I'm gone. Especially people I've worked closely with in the best few years."

Nodding his understanding of exactly what she was asking for and reached for the phone. "I'll page you as soon as I have an answer."

Sam nodded, saluted, and headed for the door. "Thank you sir."

--

"Yes sir that's right sir. Dakara, the Jaffa home world." Landry had called the President a little over a month ago to inform him of Sam's condition. "Yes sir, she is our best but she has cooperated fully with everything we all have asked of her so far."

--

"Yes I'm sure she will return for visits."

--

"Yes sir, I think its for the best sir."

--

"All right I'll let her know. Thank you very much sir." Hank hung up the phone and took a large breath. "Walter!"

"Yes sir." Walter appeared magically at his door.

"Have Colonel Carter paged to my office immediately."

"Yes sir." Walter eyed him carefully before heading down tot his console. Hank rubbed his eyes and lent back in his General leather chair. He was definitely going to miss Colonel Carter; he had been secretly hoping that she would rejoin SG1 after the birth of her daughter, now she was moving across the galaxy. Hot damn.

Suddenly there was a knock on his door and he saw a nervous Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter outside it. "Come in." Silently Sam entered his office, offering a small smile. "Sir."

"At ease Colonel, have a seat." He closed a few reports he had been looking at, gave a glance to the red phone before making eye contact with her. "Well, I spoke to the President and we have come up with an agreement." Sam straightened in her chair, not really knowing what to expect, her curiosity piqued. "Colonel Carter you are being transferred from the Cheyenne Mountain Base to the planet Dakara. Your assignment while posted there is to gather all information pertinent to the Jaffa-Earth alliance and impressive or important technologies they create or use. Do you understand?" Sam nodded.

"Yes sir." Relaxing Hank leaned back in his chair and looked across at her. "You will be expected to report back when ever you feel something of use had come up. We're going to miss you Sam and I know the president will want updates on your daughter." For the first time that day Sam smiled. She and Cam were right everything was going to be okay. "How much time do you need to pack up?" Looking at her watch Sam mentally categorized everything she was going to take with her.

"Three hours sir, but I would like permission to send a message to Teal'c first." Nodding Hank replied.

"Granted, you'll ship out at 17:30." Standing up Sam saluted. "Thank you sir." Her next stop was Walter.

--

Coming up behind Walter Sam said. "Walter dial up Dakara." Already pulling up the dialing sequence on the computer Walter replied. "Yes ma'am." Once the wormhole had engaged she pushed in the radio transmitter. There was always someone at the Gate, guarding or just waiting. Today it was Tel'mank. "Tel'mank, this is Colonel Carter from the SGC to you copy?" As she waited for a reply Sam chewed on her lower lip.

"Yes I copy. Is there a problem ma'am?" The young man's voice carried over from across the galaxy with a slight nervous twinge.

"No not today." Giving into a short nervous laugh Sam cleared her throat. "I was wondering if Teal'c was around." Again she waited with baited breath.

"I believe he just came out of the Council meeting. Would you like me to go get him for you?"

"Yes please that would be great."

"No problem, I'll be back in a minute Colonel." Sam could hear him running off in the direction of the city. She leaned back against the computer consul and waited.

Almost five minutes, although Sam though it more like 5 years, later Teal'c's face and voice appeared to her. "Colonel Carter is everything all right?" The worry was evident in his face and voice Sam desperately wanted to set his mind at ease but she knew how fast the rumor mills turned.

"Everything's find Teal'c. Remember the time loop?" She gave him a knowing look. During the time loop Teal'c had taken it upon himself to learn and become fluent in French. Sam had taken it in high school and college so whenever they needed to talk about something privately with out anyone knowing they were involved with each other they chose French. Giving her a perplexed look he inclined his head. "Yes, why?" Plus, Sam smiled, it always sounded so nice.

"I have some news. Big news. You know how crazy things have been lately, well I've done some thinking about us and me and our baby. And I've decided that I don't want SG1 anymore. I just want to get away from all of… this. So I saw General Landry earlier today and asked for a transfer. To Dakara." She waited for his reaction, this was a huge bomb she was dropping and it was pretty much out of the blue.

Teal'c looked at her seriously for a minute and only asked once. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He inclined his head accepting that she was wise enough to understand what the consequences and possible problems were. If this was what she wanted than she deserved his support. "Then I will begin searching for a home."

As she prepared to say good bye she saw some hesitation in his eye. "What is wrong?"

When he met her eye she saw the change in his eyes as he physical gathered strength. "It is traditional that the father of the husband to help in the search yet as I have no living father Bra'tac would no doubly stand in. The reward however is the ability for the parents when they grow old to move in with their son and live an involved life."

Sam immediately understood Teal'c question and trepidation of asking her to allow Bra'tac to live with them as she was not fully aware of the specifics of Jaffa culture. "It is not a problem if he means that much to you than he will live with us as your father would have."

Sam smiled as the emotion was thick in his voice. "Thank you, il mio amore" Blushing Sam tried to think of an appropriate response but all seemed to fail her. "Your welcome, innamorato." Clearing her throat to give herself a minute to recompose Sam finished the rest of her news. "I will be gating there in a little over three hours, around 17:30. I have to run to my house for a little while before, do you want me to bring you anything?" Teal'c inclined his head in agreement with the plan.

"I require nothing that you are not already bringing." Blushing again Sam smiled.

"Great, see you soon." Turning to Walter she ordered the gate to be shut down.