"So Sam, where should we go?" Cassie came bouncing into the kitchen and fixed herself a cup of coffee and a bagel. "I thought maybe the Citadel? It has the most stores and there's probably stuff there for older women too."

"Like me?" Sam muttered, taking a sip of her tea.

"Yeah – I mean", Cassie laughed, "You know – not stores for teens and college aged girls. I expect you want stuff that's a bit more sophisticated."

"Like I go around wearing designer clothes", groused Lieutenant Colonel Carter. "Have you seen my wardrobe? I have uniforms, a few pairs of jeans and lots of t-shirts and not much else."

"What about that sexy dress you told me you wore to Jack's?" Cassie grinned and took a sip of coffee.

"There's that one, but it's not exactly appropriate for everyday wear", she answered grumpily. "And anyway, it's in DC."

"You left it at Jack's?" squealed Cassie, sitting down at the counter beside Sam. "How romantic! I bet he takes a look at it and caresses it all the time, as it hangs beside his uniforms in his closet." She let out a big sigh, looking off into the distance, contemplating all that was romantic.

"Right!" Sam answered sarcastically. "I'm sure he doesn't even know it's there – especially since it's in his guest room!"

"What? You stayed in his guest room. Sam – what were you thinking?" Cassie sounded scandalized.

Sam had to laugh to herself. How the world had changed when it scandalized people to think they weren't sleeping together. "That was from my first visit Cas", she explained quietly. "We didn't just jump right into bed together you know. We wanted to spend some time getting to know each other."

"Some time? You've had years! Geesh, you guys are impossible. And I suppose he stays in the guest room here when he comes to visit?" the young woman asked sarcastically.

Sam grinned and took a sip of tea, not answering.

"Sam?" Cassie looked at her suspiciously. "Am I going to find his boxers and t-shirts in the drawers in my bedroom?

Since 'her' room was the guest room Sam knew that wasn't anything like it sounded. She sighed and glanced at her almost daughter. "No, you're not. And keep your nose out of my closet!"

"Yes!", Cassie hissed and pumped her fist. "I knew it. So tell me, is he a good lover?"

"Cassandra Frasier!" Sam turned and looked at the young woman, a scowl on her face. "That's absolutely none of your business."

"So, is he?" Cassie grinned and waggled her brows.

Sam sighed again and turned forward. "Yes", she said, taking another sip. "He's amazing."

"I knew it! Jack likes to pretend he's tough, but on the inside he's all goo. I bet he's even romantic!"

Sam stood suddenly, her fingers holding the pendant around her neck. "That's enough Cas", she said gently, a small smile on her face. "I really am not going to tell you anymore. The rest is between Jack and me and it's going to stay that way."

"Okay", smirked Janet's daughter, uncowed by Sam's words. "But I am going to tease Uncle Jack. I would so love to see him being romantic. Not to me of course", she clarified. "I mean yech. But to you." She sighed and stood up. "It's just so great. I wish Daniel was here."

Sam shook her head, thanking every known deity that he wasn't, and cleared off the few dishes from breakfast. All she'd managed was the tea and a piece of toast. She still wasn't feeling all that well and hated the thought that she wasn't going to enjoy the day as much if she felt under the weather.

"Hey, you okay Sam?" For the first time Cassie noticed that her friend and surrogate mom/aunt was looking rather pale. She also realized that Sam had been rather quiet, which she'd simply thought was because she'd been chattering away but now, looking at her, she wondered if something was wrong.

"I'm fine Cassie", she answered, but when the other woman glared at her she gave a small laugh. "Okay, so I'm feeling a bit tired this morning. It was a busy week."

"Did you have a mission this week?" Cassie wasn't privy to all the details of what went on at Cheyenne but she knew enough to know that Sam and Teal'c and Daniel were still going on missions through the gate.

"No – just a lot of stuff to look at. I worked late a few times."

"You have to stop that Sam", the nineteen year old told her seriously. "You're not so young anymore."

"Geesh – thanks!"

Cassie grinned again. "Hey, I'm not saying you're old but you are over thirty and you want to stay in good shape for Jack!"

"I'm sure he thinks I'm in fine shape", Sam retorted swiftly.

"Oh, I'm sure he does", smirked the incorrigible young woman. "Still, you can't be too careful you know."

"Are we going shopping?" her long-suffering friend said. "And if we do, I don't want to hear sly little innuendos all day about how old I am or -"

"Or how gorgeous you are and how lucky Jack is to have you and how much he loves you and you love him?" Cassie stood in front of her and gave her a sweet smile, looking more like the young girl she'd known than the young woman she'd become.

Sam smiled in return and then reached out and hugged her. "Okay yes – you can definitely say those things", she answered.

"Good – and can we go to Victoria's Secret? I'm sure Jack will be really happy if we do."

Sam sighed for the umpteenth time. "I'm sure he will", she answered, resignation in her voice.

By lunchtime they'd already hit half the mall. Sam was astounded at how quickly Cassandra could shop. They were already carrying a bunch of bags and she was sure the young college student had everything she could possibly ever need.

"So, a few more shops and I'm done. What about you Sam? See anything you like?"

"Uh – yeah, although I don't need too many things", she answered, taking a bite of the hamburger in front of her. She rarely ate this kind of junk food and usually when she did she enjoyed the sinful pleasure. For some reason, today it wasn't setting at all well, although she was feeling much better than she had earlier.

"A woman always needs too many clothes", Cassie answered, popping a french fry into her mouth. "And you said yourself you barely have anything." She suddenly frowned as she noticed Sam picking at her food. "What's wrong? I thought you said you were hungry."

"I was – I am – it's just this hamburger doesn't taste very good. I should have gotten something else."

"But you love hamburgers."

"I know. I usually do but for some reason today it's just not going down all that well. I can grab something when we get home."

"Sam", Cassie was suddenly looking at her seriously. She reached a hand across the small table and took Sam's in hers. "What's wrong – really?"

Sam looked at her in surprise. "Nothing. Really Cas – I'm just fine. I told you, I've been a bit tired and I've had a bit of an upset stomach but it's probably just some low level bug I caught. It's nothing serious, I promise."

"Oh my God Sam", Cassie looked at her with huge eyes and an arrested look on her face.

"What Cassie? What is it?" Sam suddenly grew worried that something had happened or something was wrong.

"Have you – could you be –" Cassie leaned forward and whispered. "Could you be pregnant?"

Sam leaned back and laughed. "No, of course not", she answered. "Jack and I have only been seeing each other for a few weeks."

"Six", Cassie answered.

"So see – not that long."

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, Dr. Samantha Carter, genius, but I don't think it takes that long to get pregnant. In fact, from what my Mommy told me – it only takes once!"

"I know that smart ass!" Sam answered sarcastically. "But I'm on" she leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "birth control!"

"Well I know that silly! Mom told me all the women going through the gate are. But I also know that it doesn't always work!"

"It works for me just fine!"

"But -"

"But nothing Cas. If there's been a problem, than Pete and I –" she stopped there, knowing that that thought would make the girl uncomfortable. Hell, it made her uncomfortable now that she thought about it. Where had her head been!

"Yech", Cassie's reply confirmed her suspicion. "But this is Jack O'Neill we're talking about."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Sam laughed.

"I bet his sperm are a lot more powerful!"

"CASSIE!" This time Cas had really embarrassed her – although to be fair, it was kind of funny too. "I don't think that's even a possibility."

"Sure it is. Some men are more virile than others. And you can't tell me that Jack isn't – virile I mean."

Sam sighed and shook her head. Was she like this when she was younger? God, she hoped not. "Whether or not that's true, the fact is that I am on birth control and I'm not pregnant."

"Would you be upset if you were?"

"Of course I –" Sam paused, realizing she couldn't give a fair answer to that as it wasn't something she'd thought about. Oh, she'd thought about children in the abstract and even once or twice as things had grown more serious with Jack. But it was still way too early in their relationship to be even thinking about a family. She did wonder, briefly, how Jack would react."

"He'd love it you know", Cassie answered, as if reading her thoughts. "He'd be an amazing Dad." The young woman smiled sadly. "In fact he is an amazing Dad, to me. I mean, I call him Uncle – but I think of him more like a father – you know – kinda."

Cassie appeared embarrassed so Sam reached out and took the young woman's hand in hers. "And I know he thinks of you as a daughter – a sometimes wicked, naughty, thoroughly incorrigible daughter – but a daughter nonetheless, and he loves you dearly!"

Cassie laughed, half embarrassed, half pleased and pulled her hand back to eat another fry. "So – he'd be thrilled. How about you?"

It took a moment for Sam to realize they were back to the 'having children' conversation. "I – don't know", she admitted. "I mean, one day – I'd like to have a child I guess, but it's way too soon -"

"No it's not", interrupted Cassie. "Look Sam – I know I tease you about your age – and you aren't old, not at all, but you are getting older to be thinking about having kids and you don't have a lot of time left. And let's face it, Jack is older. If you're gonna have a baby you'd better hurry up and think about it."

For once Cassie was being serious, and mature, and Sam knew she was right. She didn't have a lot of time left – that old biological clock was ticking loudly. Still, was she ready – were they ready to bring a child into the world? Hell, she was still going through the gate and she and Jack had just started dating.

"There's a drug store in the mall", her nemesis informed her. "We'll stop and get a pregnancy test." She held up her hand at Sam's objection. "If you're not pregnant it won't matter – you can say 'I told you so'. But wouldn't you rather know for sure? If that's not what's wrong then you can go see the doc at the SGC and have her look you over to find out what is wrong. Come on Sam – for me?"

Sam suddenly realized that Cassie wasn't just teasing – she was worried that there really might be something wrong with her. It was no wonder that she was frightened of losing someone else. With another sigh – she'd been doing that a lot today – she nodded. "Okay, but if you're wrong you get to pay for the damn thing!"

"Okay, deal", Cassie grinned and finally dropped the subject.

They kept shopping after lunch although midway through the afternoon Sam felt like she was fading. There really was something wrong, she finally acknowledged. She had way more stamina than to let a little shopping expedition exhaust her – although to be fair to herself, it was with Cassie. Janet used to complain that Cas could out shop Marie Antoinette and Imelda Marcos combined.

"Jack's gonna love some of the outfits Sam. Especially that little teddy number from Victoria's Secret. I must admit I never thought you'd go for that really sexy one – I mean red silk – wow!"

"It's scarlet", Sam answered calmly. "And yes, Jack will love it."

"Although you probably won't get to wear it that long."

"Cassandra Frasier", Sam said in a long-suffering voice. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Take me for ice cream?" the almost woman asked.

Sam laughed and steered them both to the food court where they both indulged in a huge frozen yogurt. Sam relished every bite. She was hungry and the yogurt went down well.

"So, we all shopped out?" she asked her companion as she set down the spoon into the empty container.

"Mmm hmm", grinned Cassie. "It was fun though, wasn't it?"

"It was great fun", Sam agreed. "I haven't done that in a long time. You've exhausted me!"

"Yeah, you do look a bit tired. Come on, let's go home and we can watch a movie and relax." Cassie pulled Sam to her feet, and they grabbed their outrageous number of bags and boxes, and headed for the exit.

"Wait – we forgot to stop at the drugstore." Cassie pulled her to a stop and looked around, trying to remember what direction it was in.

"We don't really need to stop Cassie. I'm not pregnant."

"You promised Sam", the other woman whined. "Come on – let's go and get a test and you can gloat all evening and say 'I told you so'."

They purchased a kit, Sam feeling remarkably uncomfortable as she stood at the cash register. For some reason she was sure the young man behind the counter must be thinking she was way too old to be thinking of having a baby – even though she knew it wasn't actually going to happen.

They got home and Cassie had to have them pull out all their clothes and look at them and try them on again. There was a lot of laughing and joking around – and stuff strewn all over Sam's house. She really hadn't had so much fun in a long time. And, as much as she missed Jack, she realized he wouldn't have found this fun. This was definitely a girl's weekend, to be enjoyed without the presence of the man in her life.

"Okay Sam." Cassie was sitting in the chair looking at her.

"Okay what? You ready for dinner?"

"No – come on, you know what I'm talking about. The TEST."

"Cassie – it was just a waste of money. I told you, I am not pregnant."

"Then prove it to me. Come on, go pee on that little stick and then show me. I'll stop bugging you then."

"Really? You promise?" Sam grinned at her and finally took the box. She looked down at it, realizing, with some sadness, that this is the first time she'd ever looked at one of these things closely. She suddenly wondered if all those years fighting had been worth what she'd had to give up.

She walked into the bathroom, feeling sad and rather depressed. For the first time that day she really wanted Jack.

It only took her a moment to use the test and, according to the instructions she should see the results in a minute or two. As much as she was absolutely sure she wasn't pregnant, she was nervous to look at it.

"Hey Sam – come on! Did you take the test?" Cassie was standing outside the bathroom door, a little worried at how long her friend had been in there. She waited another few seconds and was going to knock again when she heard the door handle turn. The door opened slowly to a pale and stunned looking Sam.

"I was right, wasn't I?" Cassie said gently, pulling her friend forward and pulling her into a tight hug. Sam didn't say a word, but Cassie felt the nod. Holly Hannah! Now what?

Okay – it is Easter and spring and a time for new life so I hadto do it. I was going to leave it here but figured it would be too cruel to leave you without Jack's reactions. So – at least one more chapter. I hope all you shippers and baby lovers (like me) are enjoying this story. Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews.