3 Months Later

It is Sha'uri's day to watch the children for all of her sister wives. Sam and Sha're are relaxing in the O'Neill's backyard as the children play. There is a beautiful symbiosis in this action. Sam, even though her parenting skills have grown a lot lately, still feels like she needs guidance on how to be a parent. On the other hand, Sha'uri is pregnant far past the point of being uncomfortable, and pretty close to not being able to move. They need each other right now.

"Sha'uri, how do you know you're pregnant?" Sam asks suddenly.

"I assume we're actually talking about you instead of me. Because if you can't tell that I'm pregnant, you have some issues."

Sam laughs, "Yeah, pretty much."

"Did your monthly come late?"

Sam nods.

"Have you been feeling sick?"

"For a while, now I am just ravenous all the time."

"Sounds like you're having a baby," Sha'uri says with a grin, rubbing her own stomach.

"I thought so… it's only… Janet gave me something that would keep this from happening," Sam admits.

"Yes, well sometimes it happens anyway," Sha're pauses to scold one of the children for eating sand. Then she looks at her friend, "Was it that you didn't want that to happen, or you didn't want this to happen quite yet? You do have some pretty young kids."

"That's true, but I'm very ok with this."

"Well, it's always best to be ok with whatever happens to you. But being ok with it is quite different from actually wanting it."

"You're right, the kids are all going to be really close in age. If I were planning this, I might not have planned it quite yet. But Jack really doesn't want this to happen ever."

Sha'uri looks at her friend, concerned. She can't actually imagine a husband who doesn't want as many kids as his wives can have. Actually, that is one of the main reasons that men choose to have more wives.

"He's worried," Sam explains, "You know, about how Sara died."

"Just because it happened to her, doesn't mean that it's going to happen to you."

"I know that, but he doesn't."

"Sam, when I got pregnant, Janet gave me a list of foods to eat and not eat. Things to do and not do. People who follow this list have a greater chance of having a healthy baby, and being fine themselves. It's not a guarantee. Still, you should go talk to her."

"Ok, but don't tell Jack."

Sha're raises her eyebrows.

"It's… nothing untoward about this. It's just that he's going to worry, and if I play this right, he will have a few less months of worry than he would otherwise."

"Sam, I think you need to give Jack a chance," Sha'uri says, looking at her, "He's a great guy. If you just told him everything, I'm sure he'd be over the moon excited about it. And being pregnant isn't exactly something I would call easy. You're going to need support, and Jack can give you that."

Sam smiles, "I'll talk to Janet, and do everything I can to make sure this kid is healthy. And I'll tell Jack when it's best for him to know. Trust me, ok?"

-0-0-0-

Sam isn't quite sure how Janet is going to take this news, and she figures it probably depends on the answer to this question, "Janet, how are things going?" she asks, looking at her stomach meaningfully.

"Still good, this is a long one," Janet says. She knows that's a good sign. It could mean that she's really going to have a baby. But it could also mean that this one is just going to hurt a lot more when she finally loses it.

"Listen… I'm pregnant."

Janet grins. "Good for you, Sam!"

"You're going to help me, right?"

"Of course. There are a lot of things that you can do to make sure that it's a healthy pregnancy."

"Just don't tell Jack."

Janet stares at her for a second. "Samantha, cheating on your husband is dangerous. I know that I've been accused of cheating on a husband. But I never did it. They could have you killed, you know. Jack might not even be able to stop it."

"I never… I didn't cheat on Jack," Sam says incredulously.

"Then why wouldn't you want to tell him that he's a papa?"

"I don't want him to worry, that's all. So just tell me what to do about this baby."

"Ok," Janet says with a smile.

-0-0-0-

2 Months Later

Sam carefully takes one more of the herbs that Janet gave her, and slips it into a drawer. Every couple of weeks, she returns them to Janet. Then Janet brings them back. She needs Jack to think she's still taking them, but she can't actually take them.

Suddenly she finds herself going dizzy. She slams the drawer shut, and starts to fall.

"Ma!" Charlie exclaims, with terror in his voice. Jack runs in from the other room, and catches her just as she starts to go down.

"Sam!" he exclaims, picking her up and carrying her over to the couch. She doesn't completely go under, but her consciousness slips in and out a little bit.

She focuses on his face desperate to say with him.

A few seconds later the world comes back into focus. "Jack, I'm ok now."

"So, I can go get Janet now? You'll be ok? I'll take the kids with me."

"You don't have to do that."

"Sam, you almost passed out, we have to figure out what's wrong."

"Janet knows what's wrong."

His heart sinks, and for a long second he can't breathe. He sits down next to her, "What is it?"

She sits up, suddenly feeling like he's the worse off of the two of them. But as she rises up, a new wave of dizziness comes over her, and she has to lay back down. "No, Jack. Ra, I didn't want to make you worry about me. I'm pregnant."

He stares at her, open-mouthed.

"So, the baby is healthy. We're fine. This is just normal stuff. I just need to sit down, maybe have a snack," she assures him.

He's still staring at her.

"Jack?" she asks with concern, as she rubs her arm carefully.

He keep staring into space.

"Jack, look at me," she pleads, getting really worried.

"How long?"

"Almost three months. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was actually trying to avoid you worrying. But we can see how well that worked out for me."

"You need food. What food?" he asks, still sounding stunted. Then he stands up and walks toward the kitchen.

"Jack, just wait, the food can wait for a second."

He looks at her. "We're having a baby."

"Yeah, we are," she says.

"You have to stop taking those buds," he says.

"I haven't been taking them for months. I'm sorry I was lying to you."

"You've talked to Janet?"

"Yeah, I've talked to Janet. I'm taking care of our baby."

He moves close to her again, and puts a hand on her stomach, "We're having a baby."

She smiles at him, "Yeah, we are."

He smiles back at her.

"We're going to have three very little kids," she says with a giggle.

"No kidding," he says with a nervous laugh.

"I'm sorry," she says.

"You know what? I'm not. I didn't want this to happen. I was scared. I still am, if I'm honest. But we're having a baby that is a mix of you and me. And that is a beautiful thing. I'm not sorry."

"I was scared you'd be mad. But I swear, I didn't try for this to happen. I took those buds every single day until I knew I was having a baby."

"I wasn't doubting you."

"So, is that offer to get food still good? I'm sort of craving fruit."

"What kind of fruit?"

"Surprise me."

Charlie stumbles over to the couch, and tries to pull himself up on Sam. "Ma? Owie?"

"No, sweetie, Mommy is fine," Sam assures her.

"Hey, hiding it didn't stop me from worrying, what makes you think it's going to stop our son from worrying," Jack warns.

"I'm not sure how to explain this to a two year old," Sam says uncertainly.

"Charlie, Mommy has a baby growing in side of her. It's going to make her sick sometimes. But she's going to be all right. And in a long time, we are going to have a new sister or brother."

Charlie's brow furrows with confusion.

"The baby is growing right here," Sam says taking Charlie's hand, and placing it on her stomach.

"Bad baby," Charlie says.

Jack smiles, "No, the baby isn't bad because it's making Mommy sick. All babies make their mothers sick, and it isn't their fault. You made your Mommy sick when you were inside of her too."

Charlie moves the hand from Sam's stomach to her face, "So'y," he stammers.

Sam looks at Jack with horror in her eyes.

"Charlie, you didn't actually grow inside of Sam's stomach. You had a different mother," Jack explains.

"A'e?" he asks.

"No, not Sha're," Jack says, "Your first mom, she's… gone, Charlie."

"Where?" the little boy asks.

Sam sits up, ignoring the dizziness, and takes the kid into a hug. "Sweetie, it's ok, I'm your Mommy now. I love you. You're Daddy and I both love you."

Jack doesn't want to leave the conversation like this. He wants to honor Sara. He wants to explain death to Charlie. But the kid is just too young. He's not even two years old. All of that can wait until the kid is older. Right now, the kid just needs reassurance. "Yeah, Charlie. We love you." He stands up. "Ok, I'm going to go get Mommy some fruit."

Cassie lets out a cry from her spot on the floor. Sam tries to stand up to get the baby, but Jack puts his hand up.

"I'll get the baby, and then get you some fruit. You just sit back and relax."