What Will Be Will Be
Samantha and Jack were lying on their bed in the VIP quarters they had been assigned. Samantha was lying on her left side as the doctor had instructed and Jack was lying facing her. Although he loved to lie behind Samantha and caress her stomach as they talked, he had a feeling he would need to see her face for this discussion in order to know what she was really feeling. That was one of the major differences between the Samantha Carters that he had noticed almost at once. His Sam had a face that you could read like a book – her every though was there for him to see. The other Sam had a face that told of her years as a soldier – she wore her emotions like a mask only letting people see what she wanted them to see. The one thing Jack had seen though, was the guilty look that passed between the other Jack and Sam when General Landry said they were not a couple.
"What do we do now?" Samantha asked, obviously distressed "How could we have not considered that they would not be a couple? The whole idea was to bring Grace back to her parents!"
Jack sensed that Samantha was working herself into quite a state and knew that in her condition, and with her high blood pressure, he needed to calm her down. "Shhh calm down I don't think it is going to be as big a problem as you think ."
"What do you mean not a big problem – we have bought a three year old home to her parents who aren't even together in this timeline!"
Jack began rubbing circles on her back. "I truly don't think this is going to be a problem – you seem to forget that I am him – I know he's in love with her – maybe Grace is the little push they need to get together?"
"I suppose you could be right - after all we fell in love and the other Jack and Sam fell in love it stands to reason they are as well. We really need to talk to them." Samantha yawned before she said "But first I need some sleep."
Meanwhile in Sam's lab
Jack dropped his body into a chair and picked up one of Sam's doohickeys and began playing with it. "Oh wow!"
"You can say that again." Sam replied sighing as she paced around her lab.
"Oh wow!" Jack said again.
"Yeah I got that part. What are we going to do? We can't lie to them. We're going to have to come clean about being married." Sam turned to look at her husband.
"Well we knew we would have to eventually – I just never in a million years would have come up with this scenario as the reason why." Jack said still a little stunned at everything that had happened in the last few hours.
"And what about Grace? According to the lab results she is our daughter – right down to the protein marker in her blood. They are expecting us to raise her – are we ready for that?" Sam was getting herself a bit worked up. Jack had never seen her this emotionally out of control. "We don't even live in the same city for crying out loud. And my house is barely big enough for Cassie and me - oh God what is Cassie going to say about this!" Jack could tell Sam was beginning to come seriously unhinged – she was starting to use his phrases.
"Whoa – Sam – calm down. That other me - he will know we are together." Sam raised an eyebrow at her husband sceptically. "He is me and he has the same feelings for his completely hot astrophysicist as I have for mine." Sam smiled despite herself. "As for Grace – well she's ours – who knows what will happen to the other us – I know it might put a bit of a crimp in our baby making plans for a while but hey I'm sure Grace would love a baby brother or sister eventually and as for Cassie – you know as well as I do she has been after us to have a baby ever since we got married – she is going to be over the moon. As for the separate city thing – well I can't think of a better reason to retire." Jack moved to hug his wife and noticed the shimmer of tears in her eyes. This was the second time today he had seen his normally unflappable wife near tears – all his instincts told him something was very wrong.
"Okay Sam spill – what's going on?" Something in the recess of his brain reminded him that Sam had her appointment with the doctor today and he felt instinctively it had something to do with his wife's current emotional state. "What did Lam say?" Jack asked, not sure if he really wanted the answer to his own question.
Sam took a deep breath. She had hoped to be able to deal with the whole 'other Jack and Sam' matter before they had to discuss it but it looked like the 'other Jack and Sam' matter was going to be a life time commitment. She also knew her husband well enough that he would not let this rest until he had his answers. "It's unlikely we will ever have kids – she's run some tests but she seems to think that even if by some miracle we did conceive it's unlikely I could carry to term." Sam let it all come rushing out, surprised at how emotional she had become over what Dr Lam had said. She knew in her heart having a baby would have been a long shot but to hear it from a medical professional and then be confronted with a very pregnant version of herself not two hours later had just been too much.
"Oh God Sam I'm so sorry." He pulled her in for a trademark Jack O'Neill hug and pressed his lips to her neck, his own eyes shining with unshed tears. "Then Grace is our gift – she is the child we were meant to have."
Sam looked up at him. "I just didn't realise how much I wanted to experience the whole pregnancy and birth until that it was taken away – but you're right Grace is our gift. I'm scared though – I always thought I would have the nine months of pregnancy to prepare for motherhood." Sam exposed her doubt in her own abilities to the one person who could always make her feel better about herself.
"Are you kidding me – it's probably better this way – if I gave you nine months to prepare you would read every book ever written and then over think the whole process." Jack dropped a light kiss on her forehead. "You are going to be an outstanding mother. Come on I think we had better go and come clean with the other us". Jack smiled as he clasped his wife's hand in his own and offered her a reassuring squeeze.
TBC
Next chapter the Jack's and Sam's have a talk
Sorry it has taken so long to update – RL has been hectic and a head cold and teething baby haven't helped. Thankyou so much for all the lovely reviews, they really inspire me to write. I'm sorry I have forgotten where I am up to in replying to them though, so if I haven't responded please accept my thanks and apologies – I will respond to all reviews from this chapter.