"DaDa!" the call comes.
Sam wraps a bathrobe around her sheer nightgown. She'd brought it for her wedding night. She thought it was the kind of thing that her husband might like.
But now, she figures she should keep it under wraps.
She walks into Charlie's bedroom. He's already standing in his crib. When he sees her, he grins. The love of a child is easy to win. The love of a man, she is beginning to see, is a bit harder.
She picks him up, and he melts into her shoulder. "Hi, little man," she says, bouncing him.
"I'm coming, Charlie," Jack says, stumbling into the room. Her eyes wrack in his body. His nearly naked body. There is a loincloth around him, but even that is… slipping. She finds herself cheering for gravity, and against her husband's ability to tie a knot.
"Sorry Carter, I didn't know you were up," he says bashfully. "I can take him."
"I'm fine," she assures him, while her heart is doing an interesting tap dance. Once, when she had just crossed from childhood to girlhood, she had gone to the watering hole too late, after the women had left. She'd seen men bathing, and even they were more dressed than her husband was right now.
"I should probably go put something on," he says. Then she notices him staring at her. The robe has slipped, and a toddler fist has pulled the shear fabric away so only thin lace protects her breast from her husband's eyes. And he's looking, and he's enjoying.
"I should probably get us some more covering sleepwear today," she offers.
His eyes go to hers, "I hear the Amish* shop has some pretty good stuff."
Her husband has a sense of humor.
She shifts the child higher on her hip, and pulls her nightgown back up.
"I'll go put on some clothes, and make you breakfast," he says. He leans forward slightly, and then stops, embarrassed. He is used to leaning forward and kissing his wife. And for one second, he'd confused Samantha with her.
He doesn't miss the sympathetic sorrow in her eyes, but he turns from it.
"What do I do with you while I get dressed?" she asks the baby. She moves her hand onto his bum. It's wet.
She tries to remember back to when Mark was in diapers. But her brother is only two years younger than her, and she can't actually remember. She glances around the room, and sees a dresser that is broad and padded. Then she reaches for a clean diaper. She barely remembers how to fold a diaper, and Charlie's squirming doesn't help, but she wrestles him into the diaper before too long.
"No!" Charlie screams, swatting at her.
"Carter," Jack says, "I usually take him to the bathroom before he gets dressed."
"I'm sorry," she says. She should have known this. How could she have reached adulthood and never learned to take care of a child?"
"It's ok, Carter," he says with a smile, "I'll take him."
She passes the child to him, and wraps the robe more tightly around herself. Then she follows him to the bathroom. It's one of the modern ones with a toilet which drains into the backyard.
Her husband must be rich; but then again, he'd have to be to waste a whole bunch of money on a wife that doesn't share his bedroom.
Jack holds Charlie up by his armpits over the bowl. "I can take him again," Sam says, holding out her hands.
"It's ok, you can go get dressed," he says.
"Right," she says. Until today she never realized exactly how much work went into combining two lives into one. Well, in this case, three. She heads to her room and throws on a modest dress; she's already given him enough of a show. Then she pulls her hair into a quick bun.
She hears sounds coming from the kitchen. Jack is holding up his son with one hand, and mixing a batter with the other hand. She isn't quite sure what part is more of her responsibility, the cooking or the child care. Maybe she should just try to do both, although, she wasn't actually that confident in her ability to do either.
"Ok, Charlie boy, you'll play on the floor now," Jack says.
"'Kay," the boy agrees.
"And stay far away from the oven," Jack says warningly.
"'Kay," the boy repeats as he crawls over to a chair. He uses the chair to stand up, and then walks over to the other end of the room.
"What are we making?" she asks.
"Do you like pancakes?" he asks.
"Yes," she says.
"That's good."
She finds a pan and warms it on the stove. He drops a bit of butter on it, and she swirls the pan to distribute it.
Their symbiosis grows as the meal preparation continues. Their arms brush, and overlap. And they don't need words to plan anymore. Already they are a team. It isn't long before the table is set, and breakfast is upon it.
"I have to do some work for the resistance today," he tells her, "I wish I didn't have to go in on your first day here. But it was supposed to be yesterday, and I moved it so…"
"You could buy me."
"Yeah," he mutters. "I'll drop Charlie off with Sha're on my way."
"Why?" she asks, sounding wounded.
"You don't want him hanging around you all day," he says.
"Jack, I like Charlie," she tells him. Then she looks down, "I understand if you don't trust him with me, though. I mean, you did just meet me."
"Carter," he says, catching her eyes and giving her a crocked grin she recognizes from his son's face, "I trust you. I just didn't think you wanted to watch him, and I didn't want you to HAVE to watch him."
"Oooo!" Charlie demands, as he shoves a fistful of pancake into his mouth.
"Pancakes," Jack says to his son, before explaining, "He says 'oooo' when he wants to know what something is called."
Charlie reaches out a hand and grabs onto Sam's wrist, smearing it with butter. Sam grasps onto his tiny hand, and they swing it back and forth a few times.
"Ooo," Charlie demands.
"What?" Sam asks.
Charlie breaks his hand free to points at her, "Ooo," he demands.
"What do you want him to call you?" Jack asks.
Sam wants to say 'mommy'. But a part of her knows that Jack wouldn't be able to accept that right now. In fact, Jack might never be able to accept that. "Sam."
"Am!" Charlie declares. A warm feeling spreads through her chest at his wide grin.
"That's right," Sam assures him with a grin.
Charlie shoves the last handful of pancakes into his mouth, and Sam and Jack begin a wordless dance that is cleaning up the kitchen after a meal. When Jack hands Sam the last plate and she puts it into the cupboard, they stand frozen for a moment. Both of them feeling that they want a bit of contact. Both of them being unwilling to be the one to initiate it. So Sam just puts it in the cupboard.
Jack turns away, and leaves without another word. He wasn't expecting this. He wasn't planning on actually having feelings for his new wife. She was ten** years younger than him, for crying out loud! And he'd really believed that Sara was the only woman he was ever going to love. If love didn't last forever, what was the point?
He couldn't feel anything for Carter. He couldn't, because he loved Sara, and he wouldn't betray her. Four hundred and thirty-two days had passed since Sara had died, and he'd thought about her for every single one.
Sam is almost out of the door with Charlie in her arms when she is met by Sha'uri coming in.
"Hi," Sam says.
"I'm sorry, were you going out?" Sha'uri asks.
"I was going to pick up some things, but its fine. Nothing urgent," she says.
"Well, I was coming to pick up Charlie," Sha'uri tells her.
"Oh, you don't have to watch him anymore," Sam explains.
"That is what I thought you'd say," Sha'uri says, "Jack was all worried you wouldn't want that responsibility. But I wanted that responsibility, and I figured you would too," she says, running her hand over her stomach.
"Is that your first?" Sam asks.
"Well, my first. Daniel's fourth."
"Wow! I guess I just assumed you were the first wife?" Sam asks.
"I am," Sha'uri says, looking down.
Sam feels like she just put a foot in her mouth. Lack of children was probably a huge deal for Sha'uri.
"You want to go shopping with me?" Sha'uri asks cheerfully.
"Sure!" Sam says. She was worried she wouldn't have any new friends in her new world of wifehood. Wives and maidens had nothing to do with each other outside of the family unit. It's not like she had all that many friends before. After all, most of her friends had left for wifehood long ago.
"Hey, Charlie," Sha're says as they begin to walk.
He hides his face in Sam's shoulder.
"You're shy around me already? I was your second-favorite grown-up just yesterday," she mock-scolds.
"Charlie! For shame! Say hi," Sam says, worried that Sha're is going to feel like she stole this child's affection. She doesn't want to lose a friendship before she even gets one.
"It's ok, kids are fickle at his age," Sha're says, extending her arms to Charlie. Charlie jumps over into her arms, and hides his face in her shoulder.
"Should you be carrying him?" Sam asks.
Sha'uri turns to her, "Probably not," she says, handing him back.
"Are you excited to be a mom?" Shau're asks Sam.
"Yeah, I didn't think he could win my heart so quick," she admits.
"So what do you have to buy?" Sha're says, because by this time they've arrived at the shopping district. Sam is sort of pleased to know how close she lives to everything.
"Pajamas," she admits.
Sha're stops, "He requested it? I thought Jack was a better man than that. You're just married. He should be falling all over you even if you're dressed in something ridiculous."
Sam cheeks burn, "No, it just occurred to me that I might want some nice warm pajamas for winter."
"Ah," Sha'uri says knowingly. The two walk together for a few more steps in silence. "You know, Daniel got a full scholarship to college. A scholarships with perks, you know what that is?"
Sam shakes her head.
"He got a gift certificate for a 'starter wife'. He ended up spending quite a bit of his own money in order to get an upgrade to me."
She smiles.
"I was flattered, until I found out he viewed me as a research project. I'm not from Earth, in case you haven't realized. And he wanted to know about my culture. I was sixteen years old, and he was only eighteen."
Sam stares at her in surprise. She knows there is going to be some kind of a twist in this story. Sha'uri's belly proclaims that she's not a research project to her husband anymore.
"So, what happened?" Sam asks.
"I seduced my husband," Sha'uri says with a laugh. "Jack may have got you because you're a brilliant scientist, but it only has to stay that way if you want it to. Some men, they need permission. Our society, it tells men they can take whatever women they can afford. Some men, they don't like that. They want you to volunteer."
"I wouldn't know how to begin," Sam says, blushing again.
"Come now, it's not that rare a problem. Surely your mother included some of this in your pre-marriage speech."
"My mother died when I was just a little girl," Sam admits.
"Well, your father's other wives."
Sam shakes her head.
Sha'uri looks at her, "Well, I guess I get to give you the speech then."
"Not here," Sam says, blushing. There are no others on the street right now. But it's still public.
"Ok, first we'll go shopping, and not for woolen pajamas either. We're going to get you some things your husband is going to have a hard time resisting," Sha'uri says with a giggle.
Sam blushes.
"You're a wife now, honey; red faces are for little girls." Sha'uri tells her.
-0-0-0-
Sirens blare in the street, and Sam and Sha'uri obey them, freezing. Sam pulls Charlie close to her heart. She barely knows this child, but she wasn't going to be able to live if he was taken from her. He loves him too much.
A woman is dragged out of a shop next to them. "Please, where are you taking her?" a man asks.
"Standard relocation," the Jaffa replies without emotion. Their entire race has been bred with little ability to access emotions. It's useful for a people whose profession is the committing of atrocities.
"Mommy!" a child not much older than Charlie screams, running towards the woman. His father grabs the little boy.
"Mommy loves you!" she calls to him as she's hauled away. "Take care of him!" she shouts to her husband.
Sam holds Charlie closer to her heart and tries hard not to look too distressed. They are supposed to be "grateful" for the "gift" of relocation.
An Alkesh drops down before them. Close enough that Sam feels the need to shield Charlie from the heat and the wind.
It opens, and twenty or so people run off it in terror. They have the coloring of those from the Southwestern continent. Jaffa run in from various side streets, always in pairs with a charge between them. They load up the ship, and then fly off.
The newcomers stand, looking shocked and scared. The sirens yield way for the policemen's whistle. They come and round up the newcomers, who are too shocked to run. They were going to auction. The young beautiful woman perhaps would be sold like Sam herself had not long ago. But most of them were going to be sold as slaves.
"That happened to me once," Sha'uri says with a voice of cold terror.
Sam stares at her in horror. She could have figured this out based on the fact that her friend was not of this world. But hearing it right from the person's mouth was a little different.
"Of course, they don't use Alkeshes when they are going between the worlds. They roped us together to try to walk us through the Stargate."
"Did you leave family behind?" Sam asks.
"A father and a brother," she says, looking at Sam, "See, my mother died when I was small as well."
"I'm sorry," Sam says.
Sha'uri nods without saying a word.
*So, since Amish is a religion they wouldn't exist in a Goa'uld dominated world, but it's funny anyway.
**This story isn't cannon, deal with it.