Sorry for the delay in updating. Had a lot of stuff on this past week. Anyway... part of this chapter is from a discussion with srcrib and Nyx Ro on the practicalities of Sam and Daniel deciding to make babies.

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As Vala and Sam helped Cam back into his bed after he had returned from a physiotherapy session, the brown-haired Colonel shook his head. "Hell, no." He looked at Sam, who was now tucking his blankets in, and at Daniel who stood beside Vala, who was straightening Cam's scrubs. "We had a deal. All six of us... eight if Teal'c got his act together with Ish'ta." His gaze returned to Sam as she straightened a pillow. "You could always get married before you go to Midway."

Sam glanced at Daniel and then at Cam, sorrow on her face. "Cam... it wouldn't be fair on either of us... getting married only for me to go away for a few months straight afterwards."

Cam reached for her hand and looked up at her, knowing part of her fears at least. "Sam... if you're worried about... you know... Jackson would get a pension."

Daniel looked down at his feet awkwardly, not wanting to consider the possibility yet again that he would lose his fiancée. Sam, meanwhile, replied, trying not to look as sad as she felt while Vala watched her in concern, "It's not that... and besides, if anything were to happen, he's covered in my Will as well." She sat down in a chair next to his bed and said as she rested her elbows on the edge of the mattress, "What I... we're worried about is the impracticality of it all. You guys are planning a honeymoon..."

Vala glanced at Cam, and said, "We won't have it if you go to Midway. That doesn't mean you have to postpone your wedding."

Sam shook her head. "Vala... please. This isn't a choice that either of us have made lightly."

She sighed and looked up at Daniel, who said, cocking his head briefly, "We'll get married when Sam comes back. But in the meantime, it's not fair on you guys if you have to wait."

Cam and Vala exchanged a glance, hearing loud and clear what had been unsaid, and they both shook their heads. Cam said softly, gazing up at his fiancée, "Baby? What do you think?"

Vala replied defiantly as Sam and Daniel exchanged an odd look, "I think we wait. This is SG-1 after all." She glanced around the Infirmary and shrugged. "Well, four-fifths of this merry band anyway..." She made an expansive gesture as she looked at her other team-mates. "My point though is that we're a team. We rarely go to places without each other... like the first time Daniel managed to go to Atlantis."

Daniel silently brooded as he thought of the times he had tried to go to the Lost City and he eventually replied, "But we're trouble magnets... and that trait seems to be amplified when we try to do things together as a team."

"Pfft. Says the man who has a list of injuries, deaths, and abductions that is close to rivalling the list of names on the Veterans Wall."

Sam smiled a little in amusement at the remark while Daniel brooded yet again. The Astrophysicist then said, "Look, guys... the last time we tried to get married, we ended up finding the Ark of Truth."

Daniel pointed to her briefly as though she had made a point. "Exactly. We could end up on another quest or something, and that's something I for one don't want to go on again any time soon." He sighed as he perched on the edge of Cam's bed, the Archaeologist pinching the bridge of his nose before looking at the brown-haired Colonel and at Vala. "We'll be there. There's enough time before Sam goes for us to go to your wedding. We just won't be getting married. We didn't want to upset you guys. It's just that if we keep on waiting, we'll all be engaged forever."

Both Cam and Vala shook their heads, the former asking, "What's O'Neill said about this? He can't be happy about it."

Sam pressed her lips together as she watched Daniel, who replied, trying not to look sad, but failing, "He's not happy about it... but he sees where we're coming from, which is why he and Sara are getting married when we get back."

Cam slammed his fist down on his mattress and then grimaced a little. "Well that just fudges it." Vala held the hand that he had hurt, smoothing it gently as he glanced at her with grateful smile before proceeding to glare at Daniel mostly. He exhaled as he considered possibilities and a grudging acceptance settled within him. He looked at Vala once more. He then looked at Sam. "When have you got to go?"

Sam replied quietly, looking regretful, "The General's trying to hold it off as long as possible, but it's going to be about a month tops, I think."

Daniel, not smiling, said, "Hey, well, look at this way... at least you have more choice about the best man and the bridesmaids."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A sad Daniel stood in the doorway of the lounge at home, watching as an irate Sam threw couch cushions about as she ranted, the Colonel attempting to relieve her frustration and angst. He flinched a few times as he gauged the severity in which she had thrown some of the cushions. Eventually, Sam, now tired, wearily flopped down onto the couch and put her face in her hands as she cried. Seeing that it was much safer than it had been previously to enter the room, he joined her on the couch and just held her tightly in his arms as tears silently rolled down his cheeks.

He gently rubbed her back. "Sam... you could always tell Jack that you can't go. He's not going to make you."

She shook her head and whispered shakily between sobs, "And he would get in trouble for having a conflict of interest." She paused. "It's important. I just hate the circumstances."

He kissed her hair. "Are you feeling better after tearing the living room apart?"

"It still sucks." He lie down with her still in his arms, and she continued, her hand idly roving his chest as she gazed at nothing, her eyes red-rimmed, "I don't want to lose any more time with you. I know we've not really discussed it seriously because of my age and our weird jobs, but I really wanted to try for a baby. I don't know if I'd be able to conceive in the first place let alone successfully carry a baby to term, but, you know, at least we'll have tried."

He continued to rub her back as he looked up at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression. "You won't be gone for long. Don't think about it now otherwise you won't be much use to all those other people who need you." His hand moved to in between her shoulder blades and he gazed wistfully at the fair-head on his chest. "You know... I've been thinking. I might take early retirement."

Her head shot up and she looked up at him, confused. "What?"

"Well, we could find all the Ba'al clones eventually, so I'm not planning on doing it right now, but you know, whenever we get a family, even if we adopt, it'll make more sense for me to be the primary caregiver because you get paid more than I do. You'd end up having take a cut if you had to downgrade your combat status."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You've thought about it before."

He slowly caressed the curve of her jaw. "I'm not a young man any more, Sam. Of course I have. I did some research... and asked Jack about things."

She frowned. "You told Jack before your own fiancée?"

He grimaced and looked away from her briefly. "Sam... I just wanted to know what was involved. I wasn't seriously considering it before... but I am in the not-quite-so-distant future."

She appeared pensive. "You'd give up your job for me?"

"Come on, Sam... of course I would, but... there are a lot of reasons. One: your pay; two: your career progression... seriously, how far am I going to get? You've been promoted to full Colonel... you could even make General..."

She tried to smile. "Don't be silly."

"You're only one rank away and you've still got plenty of progression in your job."

She looked at him, incredulous. "So have you! What do you think is going to happen when they publicise the Stargate? The Ori are gone... it's quite possible that it'll happen in the next couple... maybe few years. The President was very interested to know how that alternate universe turned out where the programme had been made public not long after we'd defended Antarctica."

He made a face. "Sam... I don't think the world's ready."

"Is it ever going to be? Will there ever be a time when they'll be ready to know about the wars that have been fought in their name, the lives lost?" She shook her head. "My point is that they'll need you to act as a spokesperson. They can't have a member of our military... because no matter what that person says, they would be wearing a uniform of the armed forces and would represent the United States and its interests. The Stargate is beyond international boundaries and cultures."

He nodded. "I know that. Of course it is. It's just that it's not going to be a cake walk... and to be honest, I think it'll prove to be a divisive issue, like a much larger version of the dispute that we had with Russia over control of the 'gate. The United States doesn't have a reputation for being responsible. It has a reputation alright.. but..."

She punctuated each word with a light smack on his chest. "Which is why we need you." She sighed and rested her head on his chest again as he stroked her hair thoughtfully. "Well, that's something to discuss when I come home again." She smiled slightly as she changed the subject, a distant expression on her face. "I'll probably end up having to have my gown re-fitted." She made a face. "A few months of supervising isn't going to keep this figure."

He groaned a little as he shifted beneath her. "Oh... I don't care." He ran a hand down her waist. "I always wanted more of you."

She laughed and hit him on the shoulder. He said softly, "Well, you know... before I retire, I'll have to make sure to go to Atlantis to tie up some old research and stuff." He kissed her. "Wanna come with?"

She smiled a little. "Of course. That is if Landry will let us both go." She sighed. "Well, when we find all the Ba'al clones, I think I may as well consider my options too. Maybe we could go on vacation."

"That would be great. It's a miracle that we've even managed to have a relationship in the first place, considering how much of our lives are taken up by our jobs. We're rota'd in for one more mission before you go... which seems silly to me, but I guess life goes on."

"Hmm."

She closed her eyes, and he whispered after a moment, "Hey, do you want to go out? We could go somewhere nice and try to forget at least most of the stuff on our minds."

She smiled as she raised her head to look down at him. She kissed the tip of his nose and remarked suggestively, "Only if we come back early..."

He smiled too, his cheeks reddening as he touched her lips with his fingertips. "I thought that was the whole point."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Cam lie in his quarters on base with Vala at his side. He stared up at the ceiling, an arm around her as she, her arm across his bandaged stomach, looked up at him. The Colonel let out a long breath and said quietly, a pensive expression on his face, "Looks like it's just us then. Man... I was all set on this triple shebang."

Vala replied, "Me too. I think it would have been rather symbolic too." She smirked as he turned his head to look at her. "And you've got to admit that it would be a huge turn-on if you knew that at the same time we were having utterly wild sex, everyone else was doing the same."

He laughed and then cringed. "Holy heck, that would be more creepy than kinky. I mean..." He waved a hand around as though he was searching for words. "... the thought of O'Neill and his missus... come on. And I'm not sure I want to be imagining what Jackson and Sam are doing to each other." He shuddered a little.

She kissed his shoulder, resting her head beneath his chin. "Too bad. It just makes me think of those org..."

"Vala!"

She opened her eyes and looked at the glaring yet reddening Colonel in amusement. "What? We're naked, in your bed, and you're embarrassed about my past? You weren't so discriminating a week before the mission when we ended up..."

"Uh... yeah." He sighed and then his expression softened as he kissed her, deliberately changing the subject. "Maybe I was hoping for too much. You know how I always try to get everyone together... like movie nights at our place and stuff. Maybe expecting us all to get married on the same day was going a little too far."

"It wasn't your idea. It was Jack's."

He shrugged. "Well, from one SG-1 leader to another... At least this way, I can have Jackson as my best man."

"Weren't you considering Darrell?"

He rolled his eyes, aware that his childhood friend was attracted to his fiancée. "Hell, no. He can make eyes at you from the pew."

She chuckled. "You're surprisingly cute when you're defensive."

"Well, someone has to be." He nuzzled her throat, smiling a little when she practically purred.

She placed a hand on his chest, gently stopping him although her eyes were ablaze. "Cameron..." He eventually stopped and frowned, wondering what was wrong. "... you've got to be careful. I'm not sure whether that dour Doctor Lam is going to be happy if you burst another stitch... and I think we've run out of plausible explanations other than the obvious."

He stared at her, gradually becoming amused. "You're worried about coming up with excuses? Baby, no-one will say anything..."

"Ah, but those looks say it all, my dear Colonel." A mischievous expression on her face, she whispered in his ear, "And besides, I plan on turning those embarrassing remarks into action with you."