Daniel stuck his ear against Sam's door. No TV, no radio, no sound at all. When his soft knock got no answer, he stepped quietly into her room, unsurprised to find her in bed – on her left side, as Janet was always requesting. He didn't know what difference that could possibly make, but it was apparently a huge deal.
Circling the bed, he knelt beside his friend and gently touched her cheek to rouse her. "Hey."
He got an incoherent mumble in response, but her eyes flickered open to look at him.
"You feeling okay? Just tired?"
"Yeah," she mumbled. "Back hurts."
He gave her a sad smile. "This can't be easy on you, can it?" Fatigue and discomfort had been her constant companions.
"It's not too bad."
"We brought dinner. Are you hungry at all?"
She blinked. "Starving. But I don't wanna move."
"Well, that's okay." The smile turned into a full-fledged grin. "I'll be back."
Within five minutes, the guys had found a tray to set her food on and two folding chairs. After propping her up with pillows so she could eat, Jack took a seat on the edge of the bed and the other two sat facing her to eat their own food.
She could never express how much moments like that warmed her heart.
The dinner conversation was filled with small talk about the base, including the betting pool on the date and time of Baby Carter's arrival. But before Sam was even halfway done, her lower back contracted painfully and she squared her shoulders against the sensation with a moan.
"I believe this child is very near ready to be born," Teal'c said with a smile.
"God, I hope so. Any day now. You hear that, Little Bit? Any day now," Sam groaned.
"You're not due for four more weeks, Carter."
"Shut up, sir."
"You know," Daniel put in, "if you listen to the old wives' tales, there are any number of things that could help this along a little. Warm baths, certain herbal teas…"
"Women on Chulak often used such methods," Teal'c advised.
"Yeah? What was their number one trick, Teal'c?"
The Jaffa turned calmly to Daniel. "Intercourse."
Sam's face slowly turned and smacked flat into her pillow in embarrassment. The cotton muffled her groan. "Nope. Nope, I'm good. I'll wait."
"Aww, come on, Carter. Where's that can-do spirit?" Jack teased.
"It left fifteen pounds ago. Besides, who wants to have sex with a C-130?" she grumbled.
The three men glanced at each other – this had become something of a recurring problem. "Sam, you're looking at this completely wrong," Daniel answered. "Throughout history, fertility goddesses have almost always been portrayed as extremely pregnant. And in most religions before modern times, those goddesses were considered the most important deities in the culture. Sam, in most societies, a woman with child is the epitome of sexy."
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm not kidding! I swear!"
"Indeed," Teal'c added. "There are many phrases in Goa'uld dedicated to the beauty of a woman during this time."
When she glanced at Colonel O'Neill, he was grinning. "See? I told you."