Finally, last chapter's up! I know some people are not that happy with me, but unfortunately pregnancies don't always end happily. But hopefully something good can come out of this!

And perhaps you've noticed that Teal'c has mysteriously disappeared from this story, or actually never appeared. My mistake, poor Teal'c. Perhaps he's on vacation on Chulak or something..? A looong vacation? My apologies Teal'c for forgetting to add you to the story!

Chapter 5

Jack walked by the infirmary when two nurses and Dr. Swanson ran by him, pushing a gurney between them. They shouted in between them to hurry up, and one of the nurses shouted the directions to "Dr. Carters lab".

Dr. Carters- what!? Jack felt his insides turn to ice. No, no, no! Please, let her be ok! He prayed, to a God he didn't even know if he believed in. He ran with them to Sam's lab, outrunning them since he didn't have a gurney to push.

Entering Sam's lab he felt a sense of dread filling him, but he couldn't find her. All he saw was an empty desk. He walked closer to it and then saw the blond top of her head behind it. She lay on the floor, on her side, in a pool of blood. He crunched down beside her, feeling her throat to find a pulse, finding a heartbeat that was weak and fast. Oh my God, please no. Let me keep her.. he continued to pray. The medical personnel then entered the lab, effectively transferring her to the gurney.

"She's pregnant, about seven weeks I think". He told the M.D., who nodded in response before they quickly exited the lab again transferring her to the infirmary. Jack glanced back at the floor where she'd laid, the large pool of blood making him nauseous. He shuddered, and quickly followed the people who were doing the best to try to save Sam's life.

Jack sat slumped against the wall in the infirmary, Daniel sitting next to him on the floor. They said nothing to each other, didn't need to. Sam was in the O.R., the doctors had yet to come out to give them any news. Jack could not get the picture of Sam's lifeless body out of his mind, and all the blood on the floor he knew had to have come out of her.

Ever since he'd gotten to know about the baby a few weeks ago, he'd been thinking of a solution to the problem that they were facing. Should they announce him as the father or not? Face court martial or not? Risk being separated by going to jail or not? Then there were the feelings he'd had about becoming a father again. He hadn't thought that he'd ever meet someone again that he could love enough to marry and have children with.. But that was before Sam of course. He'd seen her that first day, in the briefing room at SGC and been impressed with her spunk and personality, and he'd had to admit to himself that she was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen especially when she smiled. Not that he'd ever thought that they would have a future together. But when he found out about the pregnancy he started to hope again, maybe.. maybe they could make it. But by becoming a father again he felt that maybe he let Charlie down.. His wonderful son, who had been taken away from them so brutally. The thought about losing Sam and the baby made all his buried feelings about losing Charlie surface..

But before he could bury himself in all those feelings, Doctor Swanson entered the room from where the OR was situated. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, and then ran his hands through his hair so that it became even more unruly than before. He made his way over to Jack and Daniel, who rose from the floor as the doctor came closer. They looked at him intensely, waiting for him to give them some news. He motioned for them to enter his office before he started to speak.

"Colonel Carter had made it through surgery" was his first words. Jacks shoulders visibly relaxed. The doctor continued. "But she had a close call.. As you told me Colonel, she was pregnant-"

"Was?" Jack asked with a small voice.

"Yes, I'm afraid so" the doc answered. "She had what we call an ectopic pregnancy, where the impregnated egg gets stuck in the fallopian tube instead of continuing to the uterus. But the egg continues to develop and grow, and eventually makes the tube burst. That's what happened here. And when the ovary burst, a massive blood loss occurred inside her abdomen, while some of it leaked through the uterus and out.. I'm afraid this baby never had a chance of making it.. And we had to remove the damaged fallopian tube."

"When can we see her?" Daniel asked, knowing that Jack wouldn't have the strength to ask.

"She's being transferred to the recovery room as we speak. You can see her in an half an hour or so." The doctor answered, and then left the two men alone.

"I'm so sorry Jack" Daniel said, not really knowing how to handle the other man's pain.

Jack's face hardened. "Well, at least I won't be able to screw it up with this child as well" he said and got to his feet, and started to walk towards the door.

"You don't mean that Jack.. I know you don't."

"No I don't.. I actually thought that we'd figure it out somehow, that we'd be able to be together as a family, the three of us.. Now we don't have to worry about that anymore.." Jack said in a low voice.

"You really need to speak to Sam about this Jack. I know the two of you are in a weird place right now, but she really needs you now. Don't screw THIS up now Jack! Have you even told her that you've broken up with Kerry?" Daniel asked, squinting at Jack through his glasses. When Jack didn't answer Daniel had to let out a sigh. "How on earth did you think the two of you could get together in a relationship if she walks around thinking you're involved with someone else? Come on! You know Sam would never come to you, according to her intruding in your personal life, and demanding that you'd be with her instead of Kerry!" now he almost shouted at Jack.

Jack slowly turned to face Daniel, the pain radiating from every part of his body. "I know I've screwed up Danny.. But you know what a situation we're in. We CAN'T be together at the moment. Until today I didn't even know if we EVER would be able to.. But this morning I got a call from the President, granting my request to transfer to Washington D.C. I'm going to be the new head of Homeworld Security.."

Daniel couldn't say a thing, being too surprised to speak. And Jack continued to surprise him.

"Now I'm going to go to Sam, and be there when she wakes up. I want it to be me that tells her about the baby, not some doctor that she doesn't even know" Jack continued, and with that he turned and left the room.

Daniel could just nod, too baffled to speak. He hadn't seen that one coming!

As Sam started to gain consciousness she started to feel the pain; pain from her abdomen, and from her soul. She instinctively knew she had lost her baby, even before she opened her eyes. She just felt.. empty. She shifted her head on the pillow, feeling the textile against her cheek and understanding that she rested on infirmary-linen.

A tear started to make its way down her temple, but she immediately felt a warm hand wipe it away. She opened her eyes and when her vision cleared she looked into Jack's warm brown ones. They were filled with compassion, and.. love? No that can't be.. she said to herself. She looked down at her hand, tucked in safely in his.

"Hi.." She croaked, her throat soar from the intubation and unbelievably dry. "Water?" she asked, and was given that immediately.

"Better?" he asked, and then resumed his holding of her hand. She stared at their joined hands and nodded. "Do you remember what happened?" he asked, and she nodded again, as another tear started to fall down her cheek. "I'm so sorry Sa-.. Carter." He continued. "But they couldn't save the-.. the doctor said it was an ectopic pregnancy.. he said the baby didn't have a chance.." he said, looking away. She saw he started to tear up, she had never seen him like this before. Did he actually care? She asked herself. Before she could ask anything, he continued.

"I'm so sorry, Sam.. I'm sorry for being a coward, and for leaving you alone in this. I hope you can forgive me, but I understand if you're mad at me.." he rambled, needing to get it of his chest before he chickened out. She regarded him for a few moments, but for him it felt like an eternity.

She drew a shaky breath. "I'm not mad.. Right now I don't know what I feel.. Even though I had only known about this a few weeks, I had sort of.. decided this was what was missing in my life. Someone to love, and who would love – and I guess sometimes hate – me.. for who I am, not what I've done. But I guess that what just too good to be true.." she said with a sad smile on her face.. "You know.. I had already begun to think about how to make my house baby-proof.. silly really..!"

"You're NOT silly Sam.. You were becoming a mother." he said, and those words made the situation awfully clear to her. Tears streamed down her face, as her body started to shake with sobs. "Come here.." he said, as he pushed his chair closer to her, and he held her and soothingly stroke his hand up and down her back until her sobs dissipated and she fell asleep once more.

When she awoke the next time, she once again remembered what had happened. Jack still sat by her bed, bet he was slumped in an uncomfortable visitors-chair and asleep. She took her time to observe him, not wanting to wake him up. He looks.. old. She thought. And worn. Had this whole baby-thing really made him so thoroughly exhausted? She'd thought that he didn't care that much, that this had been just a complication in his life with Kerry.. The thought of her made Sam take an angry breath – ok, so perhaps she was a bit angry.. but would anyone blame her, really?

The sound of her harsh breath made Jack open his eyes. He saw the anger in Sam's eyes and wondered what had gone wrong. Didn't she just say that she wasn't angry? Then he realized, he hadn't made it through his entire confession before she fell asleep.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, and then he berated himself. Of course she's not feeling great O'Neill.. Stupid question!

She just raised one of her eyebrows. "Peachy, just peachy.." she said. "And you? How's life with little miss "red hair and big tits? You know, I have barely seen you these last two weeks, why would you sit here now? Bad conscience?" she said angrily, regretting her words as they left her mouth, but knowing that she couldn't take them back.

He took a deep breath, not allowing himself to be affected by her words. "I assume you mean agent Johnson? I wouldn't know really.. I haven't seen her since that day you met her in my office.. She and I parted ways there, agreeing that I wasn't ready to commit myself to her.. Since I was in love with someone else"..

Sam's felt her breath got caught in her chest. Was he really saying..? "Sir, do you mean..?"

He continued. "Yeah.. It's true that I've been avoiding you these last two weeks. I had to sort some things out before I could try to make this-" he made a gesture between them -" work.. I'm being transferred to D.C. soon. I thought that maybe.. When I'm no longer your C.O. that..?" he couldn't finish the sentence, didn't dare to. He started to fidget with a corner of her blanket, not really wanting to look her in the eyes.

She smiled softly, for the first time that day. "Sir.. are you asking if I'm still interested..?" she teased.

He stopped fidgeting and looked up, afraid of what he might find. As soon as his eyes locked with her sparkling blue ones he knew that he'd made the right decision. A decision he would never regret.

18 months later.

"Come on now Sam" the midwife said. "I need you to give everything you've got next time, a few more pushes and your baby will be here!".

Sam did as instructed, Jack holding her and whispering encouraging words in her ear the whole time.

She felt like she was about to explode, but at the same time she felt so powerful.. So.. feminine. She was a woman, a strong woman. Doing what women had done for thousands of years. As the next contraction washed over her she took a deep breath and focused to bring her baby to the world.

"And now Sam, I need you to give a gentle push, not too strong, and the baby's head will be born", the midwife said, guiding Sam through these last few moments.

"It's got hair! Wow, lots of hair!" Jack said, with the enthusiasm only a father-to-be could show. He lovingly looked at Sam, as the last contraction started. "Come on now honey, one last time" he said, and she obeyed, the enormous pressure she'd felt for the last few hours just.. stopped. She exhaustedly laid back against the bed, and heard her child make its first scream. She looked at her husband, and they smiled happily at one another.

"Congratulations Sam and Jack" the midwife said, and placed the still warm and wet baby on Sam's bare abdomen. Sam automatically reached down to secure the small bundle. The baby looked her in the eyes, Sam's blue ones meeting its dark brown ones. "And say welcome to your baby daughter".

And that's that for now. Pleeeease R/R!