Alternatives

Chapter XV: White Lie

Based upon Stargate: SG-1

Rating: PG

- RMI - Based on the film "Continuum"; taking place a few months after Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter, and Cameron Mitchell were settled into new lives in the alternate timeline -

- . - - - . -

Daniel stared at the unknown number calling in on his cell phone. No one ever called him. Either it was his "handler" checking up on him, the physical therapy office checking on an appointment, or no one at all.

"Hello?" he answered the phone.

"Daniel?" an extremely familiar voice on the other end said.

"Sam!" he bolted upright. "Sam, I can't believe they're letting you call me. How are you?"

Sam waited a moment before answering. "Daniel, I have something important to tell you."

Her tone concerned him. Something was wrong. "Sam, is everything alright."

"Daniel, I'm pregnant."

Every muscle in Daniel's body froze. "You're what?"

"Don't worry," she said. "I already told them you're the father."

He almost choked on his own saliva. "You told them I'm . . . I'm the father?"

"They already said they'd move you out here." He could hear the tears in her eyes. "It's going to be okay. We're going to raise our baby together."

"Listen, Sam," he tried to say something comforting, but he couldn't think of anything good.

"It's okay, Daniel. We can talk more when we see each other." She paused a second, he heard her swallow hard. "I love you."

Daniel smiled at the words even though they sounded a little forced. Neither of them said the words that often, but that didn't mean they weren't true. "I love you, too, Sam. I'll see you."

She sniffled. "I'll see you. Bye."

He replied in kind and listened to her hang up.

Sam was pregnant. He sighed. But things were going to be okay, she wasn't going to have to raise the baby alone. He was going to help her.

- . - . -

Daniel walked off the plane and looked around. So, this was Montana. What a great place to live out a life of unimportance. Well, not unimportance. He was going to be a father. That was pretty darn important.

He made his way through the baggage claim and found his luggage. He had packed up his things from his old place, the few items he had, and the Air Force said they would move them shortly. He knew that they probably wanted to check his stuff, but that was just fine with him. He didn't really care.

Exiting the terminal, he looked around for Sam. They made eye contact across the room and he smiled. She looked good. Her hair had grown a little more, he liked the longer look she was sporting instead of the short cut he had known her to have for the past ten years or so. She started wearing glasses again, a plain pair of black rims that really brought out the scientist stereotype in her. He was sure she favored glasses over contacts in an attempt to disguise her face in public.

But the thing he noticed most about her was how sad and tired she looked.

With his luggage in one hand and his cane in the other, he made his way over to her, stopping right in front of her for a moment. He knew she was taking stock of him, too.

Daniel dropped his bag and Sam stepped into his arms, tucking her face into his neck.

"So, how much are we going to sell this?" he asked quietly, fully aware that they were being watched.

"I was thinking a long hug, a harmless kiss, followed by another hug," she answered.

"Alright." He loosened his grip on her and they leaned back. He placed a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth and enveloped her in his arms again.

"See," she said. "Painless."

He chuckled and released her again. "Let's go." He picked up his bag and followed her out.

- . - . -

They had tiptoed around each other all evening, not knowing what to do, nor what to say. They had a quiet dinner of pasta with store bought sauce. While cleaning up, Daniel noticed the empty box of Froot Loops in the trash and smiled to himself. Froot Loops, Jack used to love them, but after the whole 'time loop' thing six or seven years ago, he hated them.

After dinner he wandered around the house a little, getting his bearings. He noticed that Sam had put his bag in the master bedroom. Very subtle, he thought. She had avoided the uncomfortable conversation that he had anticipated. He knew that the house was almost definitely being monitored. Nothing extensive, he was sure, but they had to keep up appearances anyway.

The phones were probably bugged, there were probably a few microphones in the kitchen and the living room, and a camera or two set up around the house. The government respected that they had privacy, but not too much.

Surveillance or not, sleeping next to someone off world was way different than sleeping next to someone in their own bed.

He grabbed his pajama pants from his bag and got ready to turn in.

When Sam walked into her - their - bedroom a short while later, he was sitting on one side of the bed in his pajama pants and a crewneck shirt with a book in his hands. They smiled.

She grabbed something from her dresser and disappeared into the bathroom, returning a few minutes later seemingly ready for bed. She stood on the side at the side of the bed, not moving.

"I'm not on the wrong side, am I?" he asked.

She shook her head.

He glanced at his leg. "It's not . . ."

She shook her head again and climbed into the bed next to him. As soon as she was settled down, she started to cry. "I never meant to force you into this."

He put his book down and gathered her up into his arms. He whispered her name and stroked her hair.

"I miss him so much," she sobbed.

"I know." He held her head to his chest and let her cry. As she calmed down, he switched off the lamp on the night stand and allowed them to sink down, he on his back, still holding her to his chest.

"Jack came from Washington three days before we were scheduled to go to the extraction," she said after a great deal of silence. "Sorry we didn't tell you."

"No," he replied, "I understand." He did. He knew that they wanted some time to themselves after Sam had been in Atlantis for a year and Jack was always in D.C. He completely understood. "Was that when?" he asked.

He felt Sam nod against his chest. "Yeah."

"I also understand why you didn't want to be alone for this, and I'm glad that you called me."

She forced a laugh. "Like I was going to call Cam."

Daniel chuckled, too.

They both settled into silence again for another long while.

"Jack would have made a great father," Daniel finally said. He leaned his head up to look in Sam's eyes, "and he would have loved your baby."

She nodded, tears coming back to her eyes. "Thanks for agreeing to be the father to a baby that's not yours."

He placed a kiss on her forehead. "Anytime, Sam, anytime."

- - - Several Months Later - - -

Cam leafed through his mail, seeing a plain envelope from the Air Force made him sigh. He could only imagine what the hell they wanted now.

When he got inside, he opened the envelope to be pleasantly surprised by a personal handwritten note and a picture of a baby instead of some official letter. The baby was a blond-headed little thing, a tiny baby even by newborn standards, but none-the-less adorable. The letter was written in extremely familiar handwriting.

Cam, it read. They wouldn't let me contact you in any other way and they told me that they wouldn't let you write back. Sorry.

But I had to let you know. When we came through from our reality, I was pregnant. Daniel and my baby was born a few weeks ago. If you haven't already guessed, the attached photo is her. You can't tell from the picture, but she has blue eyes.

She's healthy, as am I. You don't have to worry about us, they let Daniel come live with us, him being the father.

Her name is Grace Jackson, but we call her Jackie, I'm sure you can guess why.

The first four letters of "Jackie" were a little darker than the other two. Cam smiled to himself. Sam just wanted to make sure that he got the message. It wasn't Jackson's baby, but General O'Neill's.

Of course, he knew that she couldn't be Jackson's baby, that would have just been weird. He, along with just about everyone else at the SGC, new that Sam and the General were in some kind of relationship. Apparently there had been eight years of tension before he had gotten there.

He was sorry. Sorry that she had to see O'Neill die, sorry that they weren't in the right timeline, sorry that he couldn't be there to help . . . Sorry for so many things.

Anyway, we're doing fine; all of us. We can only hope that you are doing the same.

With love, Sam.

Jackson's handwriting followed hers: The leg's fine --Daniel.

Cam chuckled. At least they were in good spirits, babies tended to do that to people.

The smile slowly faded. He missed them, both.

Sam's little white lie had fooled the government in ending their isolation. Cam just wished that it could have, somehow, ended his as well.

- . - - - . -