"Sam," Jack murmured as he walked into the house after work.

"Hm?" She asked, lying on the couch with her feet propped up on the arm rest and a newspaper lying unceremoniously on her chest.

"You awake?"

"Trying not to be," she admitted with her eyes closed.

He smiled softly. "Where's Grace?"

"Friend's house."

"At five-thirty?"

"She was invited to stay for dinner."

"Ah." He said, nodding slowly. He looked back at her. "Sam?"

"Wha?"

"What do you want to do for our anniversary?"

Her eyes fluttered open instantly. "Anniversary?"

"Yeah. Three days from now? Did you forget?"

"No." She lied quickly.

"You are a terrible liar," he chuckled. "You forgot."

"I've had a few things on my mind," she reminded, somewhat cranky.

"I know," he said, leaning over to kiss her forehead, gently. "Which is why I wanted to know what you wanted to do."

She inhaled and exhaled as she folded the newspaper. She stretched gently as she rested her hands on her softly curved belly. She'd just started to show her pregnancy in the last few days, and Jack had to smile softly.

"Um...honestly, I'm not sure a weekend away would be much fun. I'd be too worried about Grace, and too tired for any...well, let's be honest, "fun stuff"..."

"Still might be nice to spend some quality time with you, though," he admitted.

"I'm not sure I want to leave Grace with anyone. Not with the tough time she's had with her nightmares lately," Sam said, wincing slightly.

"Okay. So, we stay home."

Sam nodded slowly. "I think that would be a good idea."

"Dinner out?"

"Always a good idea," Sam said, struggling to sit upright.

Jack grabbed her hands, and gently helped her up.

She rubbed her barely rounded stomach, gently. "This kid must be like you because morning sickness lasted about six weeks, and then I discovered a whole new side of appetite."

Jack laughed softly.

"And you gave me grief about my big lunch before my first trip through the Stargate..." Sam said, shaking her head.

"So, dinner. Dancing?"

"Uh, maybe here, but I don't think anyone wants to see a big ol' pregnant woman dance," she muttered, more than a little moody.

"You're not big," Jack said, affectionately. "Your body's just changing to accommodate the new one it's making."

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"And...that's all on that subject," Jack finished, quickly.

"Look, whatever you want to do is fine with me," she said, standing up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm pregnant. Where do you think I'm going?" Sam asked, heading to the bathroom.

Maybe it was a good thing that Grace was at a friend's house, Jack thought to himself. And maybe a candle-lit dinner at home with some soft music in the background would be the solution to his anniversary plans.

He looked over at the coffee table to find a small notebook sitting beside a large catalog.

"What's this on the table, honey?" He called to her.

The sound of a toilet flushing was heard as Sam exited the bathroom, drying her hands on a towel. "Uh...just some ideas I had for the nursery."

"We don't even know if it's a girl or a boy yet," Jack said, looking over at her. "You have ideas for a nursery?"

She shrugged as she sat back down. "A lot of this stuff can be done for either. I mean, both girls and boys need cribs, and they don't exactly make them differently for boys and girls."

"True." He said, nodding slowly.

"I was thinking that maybe we could go and do some shopping sometime soon. I need maternity clothes, and we need to get some ideas for the nursery."

"Sure. Sounds fun. Should I find a sitter for Grace?"

She inhaled. "I..."

"Look, if we wait until the weekend, we can leave her with Cassie, and have a few hours alone to ourselves, okay?"

"If our anniversary is three days from now, then we'll end up doing that for our anniversary," she sighed.

"So?" Jack asked, shrugging. "So it's not the most romantic thing in the world? But how much of our relationship was?"

"True." She said, nodding.

"Look, I'll take you out to eat, we'll go and do some shopping, and I'll give you a foot massage when we get home, okay?"

"That sounds perfect," she admitted.

"Excellent. Then, that's what we'll do."

"Hey," she said, looking over at him with a faint smile.

"Hm?"

"I know I was a little...cranky...earlier."

He shrugged. "Happens to the best of us."

She nodded slowly. "Anyway, I wanted to make sure you knew that I do love you, and I am happy about the baby."

He smiled softly. "I know. But it's still nice to hear once in a while."

She leaned over and kissed him gently.

"What was that for?"

"Well, apparently, my hormones took a turn in your favor, Jack O'Neill," she winked.

"Oh, really?" He asked, turning a surprised eye to her.

"Yep. And Grace won't be home until six-thirty or so, and we have to pick her up, so..."

"We've got some time to kill," he grinned as he leaned in and kissed her.

-

Three days later:

Sam inhaled as she looked over at the closet, dressed in her cotton pajama pants and a camisole. "What exactly am I supposed to wear tonight?" She asked, looking out the bedroom door at her husband.

"Whatever makes you feel most comfortable, honey," he said as he walked in.

"Comfortable..." She said, raising an eyebrow. "Do you realize how little there is in my wardrobe that fits that description right now?"

"That's why I said it," he said with a small shrug.

She bit her lip. "Do you want dressy? Or not dressy? I mean, what are we doing for dinner?"

"We're doing whatever you want for dinner," he said, seriously. "Italian, Mexican..."

She looked somewhat green at his Mexican offer.

"So...not Mexican."

She swallowed. "Sorry."

"We can do Chinese, burgers, steak..."

"Ooh. Steak." She murmured, hungrily. "With mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables..."

"Okay. Steak, it is." He said with a small chuckle.

"So we should dress up a little more," she said, biting her lip. "If we're going to a steakhouse..."

"Sam, if you want to wear my sweats to the mall, that's fine with me." He said, seriously. "And if you want me to get takeout from some steakhouse, I'll do it."

She managed a wry smile. "I think I can find something in my wardrobe that will still fit me."

"All right." He said, noncommittally.

She walked over to the closet, and pulled out a few things that had hung more loosely on her frame.

"There's this..." She said, showing him a simple, flowing navy blue dress.

"That's nice," he said, nodding.

"I wore it once." She said with a small sigh. "To a funeral."

"If you don't want to wear it, then don't wear it." He said, simply.

She bit her lip. "Well, I'll try it. I'd rather wear this than your sweats. At least for now..."

He chuckled softly. "You know, I was just planning on wearing jeans and a t-shirt."

"We'll try it," she murmured, pulling out a pair of jeans and one of her blouses. She managed to get them up to her hips, and moved to button them. With an inch difference between the two sections of waistband, she looked over at her husband. "Yeah. And these were the biggest pair I had."

"I don't doubt it, but I have an idea..." He said, reaching for a rubber band.

"What are you doing?" She asked, studying him closely.

"Just watch," he said, reaching for her jeans. He gently slipped the band through the button hole and looped it around itself so that it was securely fastened to the button hole. Then, he took the free end, and wrapped it across the button. "It's not perfect, but it'll work for now."

The pants were now fastened with the makeshift fastener.

"You're a regular MacGyver, Mr. O'Neill," she chuckled softly as he looked back up at her.

"Nah." He said, shaking his head. "Just a somewhat inventive guy who can make his wife happy once in a while."

"More than just once in a while," she murmured affectionately.

"Now, you probably want a long shirt that will cover the waistline of your pants, but..."

"That...is a little easier," Sam chuckled softly as she walked over and pulled out a long t-shirt. She slipped it over her figure before turning back to him. "Somewhat decent?"

"More than that," he smiled. "You're the down-to-Earth woman I married."

"Oh, that's romantic," she said with a wry chuckle.

He leaned over and kissed her gently. "It is to me," he murmured as he inhaled the scent of her hair.

She giggled softly as she looked over at him with a tender look in her eye. "It's been an adventure," she said, softly.

"One of the most marvelous ones at that," he admitted.

She chuckled. "We may be celebrating our first anniversary, but we've traveled the road together for a lot longer than that."

"Yeah. I figure that if we can fight alien bad guys together, we should be able to handle anything these kids can give us," he said, resting his hand on her belly.

She smiled softly. "Even my crazy hormones?"

"Hey, we managed to handle those once before..."

She blushed at the memory of the "sweet little tank top number" incident. "Not one of my best moments..."

He chuckled. "Really? I thought it was kinda cute."

"Cute?" She asked, skeptically. "The words coming to mind are primitive and primal. Not cute."

He laughed, softly. "Hey, you didn't see me go all alpha male on Daniel's hiney when he asked about you."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What?"

"Oh yeah..."

"You beat Daniel up for me?"

"Uh...yeah..."

She chuckled softly. "Good thing he understood that it was an alien influence."

"And is naturally forgiving."

She grinned. "Yep."

"Well, Cassie has taken Grace out to that new princess movie she wanted to see so badly, and we are both dressed now. Shall we begin our festivities a little on the early side?"

"I'm up for it," she said, amicably.

"Excellent." He said with a small wink.

"Hey, Jack..." She said as he walked toward the exit.

"Hm?" He asked, turning back to her.

"I have something for you," she admitted with a small blush.

"Oh?"

She nodded, and he walked back into the room as she retrieved a small envelope. "It doesn't look like much, but..."

He looked at her strangely before he opened it. Inside was her resignation paperwork. "I'm willing to go either way, Jack," she murmured softly. "If I hadn't had an immediate assignment, I would have given this to you for our wedding, but...mail it or file it away for another day, whatever would make you happiest."

He looked at her for a moment before he closed the envelope, too overcome for words at the moment. She could see that he recognized the sacrifice it had been for her to put her career in his hands, and he looked down for a few moments before he looked back up at her. "Thank you."

She smiled softly as he reached over and retrieved his own envelope which he handed to her silently.

She looked at him strangely before she opened it and gasped. Inside was his retirement paperwork. "It would seem that your great mind and my inferior one crossed paths at one time or another."

She looked at him with tears shining in her eyes. "You'd be willing to do this?"

He nodded. "I've always been willing. Just waited for you to ask."

"I would never have asked," she whispered softly.

"Neither would I."

"Then I guess we're at a standstill."

"I'm offering," Jack said, softly. "If you want to go back to work and still have someone home with the kids."

"So am I." She said, seriously. "And it would make a little more sense for me to do it since I'm not currently assigned to anything in particular."

"Yes, but you're of more value to the program..."

"My vast majority of my value is scientific, Jack. And not being Colonel Carter does not mean that I can't be Dr. Carter."

"True, but your leadership and expertise..."

"Has only been appreciated by the Air Force and not by the IOA," she interrupted. "Which makes it highly unlikely that I'll get many more commands...at least in the program. Whereas, you have been highly praised by both."

"The IOA are a bunch of pencil-pushing idiots who don't know a good thing when they see it." He said, bitterly.

"Jack..."

"It's true. Don't tell me that it isn't."

"It's the same argument every time we try to talk about this, isn't it..."

He nodded. "I guess so."

"Then, I guess we leave it as is until things change?"

"Sounds good to me." He admitted.

"And when I start back at work?" She asked, softly.

"I can do most of my meetings in the morning and early afternoon and do the paperwork at home." He admitted. "So that no matter what you end up doing, I can be home when Grace gets home."

"And when the baby comes?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist as he hugged her tightly. "I love you, Sam." He murmured in her ear. "Happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary, Jack," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly. "And I love you too."