Sam smiled at the officer's she passed in the hall but didn't offer them anything more than that. She was supposed to report to the infirmary and every step she took only seemed to make her more tired … "Sam!" She blinked a couple of times at the realization that Janet was hurrying over to her as fast as her short legs would allow before she smiled tiredly at the doctor. "Sam, it's so good to see you," Janet began before she hugged Sam.

"Hi Janet."

"Sam honey, are you alright?"

"I'm just tired and a little cranky. Nothing to be worried about," she offered as Janet led her to a bed and helped her sit down. "And I feel huge," Sam mumbled. "Half the time I don't believe you and Jo when you tell me I'm only four months pregnant. You see me right? I'm pretty sure that I'm the same size my sister-in-law was when she was six months pregnant!"

"Don't mind her Doc. She'll be fine in a minute."

The two women looked up to find Jack walking towards them with a smile on his face. "Hello Colonel," Janet smiled. "How are you doing?"

"Oh just peachy."

"He's lying," Sam sighed. "He's grinning and bearing this whole damn thing because he knows if he complains about a damn thing in my presence I'm likely to shot him."

Janet chuckled and shook her head before she turned back to Sam. "Well then, let's get a look at you real quick and then I'll stick the Colonel with the biggest needle I can find."

"Hey," Jack cried in indignation.

"Thank you Jan."

Janet moved away from the bed, going to get the ultrasound machine and Jack moved forward, helping Sam into a semi sitting position in the bed. "How does me getting a needle help you any?"

"It just makes me feel better," Sam smiled up at him. "It's fun to watch a full bird Colonel complain about needles like he's a kid. I have to get my kicks somewhere."

"So," Janet began as she moved back to them and closed the curtain around the bed. "How are you feeling Sam."

"I'm tired a lot," she sighed as Janet worked. "I'm nauseous a lot but, I've only been sick a few times, thank god. And I waddle …"

"You sound right on track then," Janet smiled. "Don't worry about your size too much, you are carrying twins. Besides your sister-in-law was only carrying one baby. When you and Jo were telling me how much weight you had gained during the first trimester I was a little surprised but it seems everything has evened out."

"Oh yeah," Sam mumbled again. "It was great gaining ten pounds during the first trimester when the two of you said I'd likely only gain half of that."

"Sam honey, you've always been a little underweight. Considering the stress from command I was afraid you weren't going to gain as much weight as is expected. I'm very happy you gained as much as you did. You might not put on as much weight later on." Janet was clearly trying to pacify Sam but it wasn't working.

"Really? Because Jo told me to expect gaining an average of a pound and a half a week from here on out and so far I've gained exactly six pounds this past month."

"Stop fretting Sam," Janet chastised as she pulled up Sam's shirt and applied the gel to her stomach. "Well, I know Jo said she had some issues with the heartbeat during your last ultrasound. Did she say anything else?"

"Not really," Sam offered. "I mean we heard something but, Jo's not an obstetrician."

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "When she checked at six weeks I think she forgot to even try. Dorothy here startled her when she started freaking out about the twins."

"And when she checked last month it wasn't really clear," Sam continued. "But then we had to cut it short. There was an issue with one of the teams. She said that the twins looked alright size wise and that you'd double check everything."

"She's right," Janet offered as she studied the screen. "They're both looking good. Two nice distinct fetuses in two separate sac's. I wouldn't worry about her difficulty in finding the heartbeat, this isn't Jo's area and she doesn't have the experience with pregnant refugees like I do," Janet smiled.

"I'm not worried," Sam offered quickly.

"Sam honey, you're glowing a bit. Now, here we are." Janet hit a few buttons and looked to Sam and Jack just as the heartbeat's came out loud and clear. They were both staring at the screen, watching the twins as they listened to their heartbeats. "One's a little bit faster than the other," Janet began. "But they both have nice steady beats. You know," she offered as she put the wand up. "I think all these extra ultrasounds are messing with your head. Most women have had one ultrasound by now and you've had three."

"You're the one that suggested regular monitoring," Sam said as she wiped the gel off of her extended stomach.

"Don't remind me," Janet said as she shook her head. "Especially because I'm about to ask if you want another ultrasound to know the sex of the babies."

Sam looked to Jack before she turned back to Janet. "Considering what we know," she hinted about Chaos. "We were assuming that they're girls."

"Under the circumstances I would agree but, that was before we knew there were two in there. As unexpected as that was it still happened. The same might be true for you having a son instead of a daughter."

"Um …" Sam hesitated as she looked to Jack. They had never discussed the possibility of a son …

"Do you want to know," he asked.

"I thought we did know." Sam didn't know what to say honestly, that was all she could think.

"It might be nice," he offered. "We do have two weeks of downtime this time. It's not like we have the opportunity to shop for baby things while we're on Eleftheria."

"Yeah … yeah I guess you're right."

"Well, I wasn't actually going to suggest another ultrasound until you two head back. I couldn't really see much just now and sex is generally impossible to determine until after eighteen weeks."

"Do you think you could try next week," Sam asked gently. "I know I'll only be eighteen weeks –"

"I guess I could try," Janet smiled. "But there's no guarantee."

Sam nodded at Janet and watched as she excused herself from their curtained off area. "Carter," Jack asked cautiously.

"I'm fine," she offered without looking at him. Instead she busied herself with straightening her clothes and putting everything back into place.

"No you're not but I don't know what's wrong, just that something is." Jack placed his hand to her cheek and gently lifted her face so that she looked at him.

"What's wrong?"

Sam simply shook her head and took a breath. "I'm going to check in with Hammond while you and the guys finish your physicals. I'd like to get out of here sooner rather than later."

"Okay," Jack offered gently. He rubbed her cheek gently with his thumb before he removed his hand and gently helped her from the bed. "Mal'tec and Ead'ogar will want you to wait for them."

"I think I can make my way to Hammond's office just fine on my own," Sam smiled gently at him and leaned forward enough to kiss his cheek gently.

The curtain was pulled open and just as Jack pulled his hands from her stomach Sam realized that he had been rubbing her stomach to comfort her. Now she missed his touch greatly. "Everything looks good Sam," Janet offered as she smiled at the couple. "You're free to go. Which means it's your turn Colonel."

"Joy," Jack grumbled. Sam smiled at him and gave his arm a quick squeeze before she headed out of the infirmary.

Sam waddled through the hallways with ease and slowly made her way up the short set of steps into the Control Room. There she took a few minutes to say hello to some people but she enjoyed seeing Walter the most. He smiled brightly at her and insisted that she sit in his chair. "No Walter I'm fine, really. Besides I need to see the General."

"Oh! Let me help you Colonel." Before Sam could open her mouth to object Walter was standing by her and had placed her hand in the crook of his arm as he lead her up the stairs to the briefing room. With a sigh and a small smile she allowed him to lead her up the stairs where she found Hammond ready and waiting for her.

"Thank you Walter," Sam offered with another smile. He gave her a small nod before he let go of her arm and made his way back down the stairs.

"He was awfully eager to help you," Hammond offered as he stood up from his chair and pulled a seat out for her.

"Apparently everyone is eager to help me," Sam smiled at his gesture before sitting down in the chair.

"Don't hold it against us Sammie. We're just men after all," George shrugged. "It's the only thing we know to do for pregnant ladies."

"You mean coddle us? That's certainly the truth," Sam chuckled. "Even after a month of glaring and snapping at people the men are still a little too considerate since they've learned of my pregnancy," she offered easily as she placed her hands on stomach. "Give me your hand Uncle George," she said with a smile as she held out a hand to him.

George did as she asked and she placed his hand under her other one, right where she felt the kick. George smiled brightly at her and she returned it whole heartedly. "I've been feeling them fluttering around every once in a while but they've just started to get these real strong kicks in this past week. It's not very often yet, but it's there."

"I remember the first time Maggie felt an honest to god kick," George offered, half lost in the memory. "She smiled for a straight week."

"Jack's been teasing me about that. I couldn't stop smiling, even in front of the officers."

"I take it Jack called you out on it. He's not very subtle."

"No, he's not," Sam agreed. "Well," Sam said as she took her hand off of George's. Only he didn't remove his hand. Instead he placed his other on her stomach as he actively searched out any movement he might find. "He did actually have a good idea."

"What was that," George asked as he studied her stomach.

Sam smiled brightly at her 'uncle'. He was such a softy. "Jack talk's to the twins," she started softly. "Tells them stories about everyone, including you." George looked up to her, interest clear in his eyes. "He doesn't call you Uncle George," Sam smiled serenely. "He call's you Grandpa George." Sam watched as he tried to fight the smile. Well, for a half second he fought the smile and then he just gave in to it.

"Isn't this hunky dory?"

The two of them looked up to find Jack standing in the doorway the led to the hall with a group behind him. Sam gently placed her hands on top of George's before he could pull away but didn't look at him. "I was just introducing the General," she said as she patted one of his hands. "How was your physical Sir?"

"Oh it was fine Carter," Jack said as he moved into the briefing room, Daniel and Teal'c following him while Mal'tec and Ead'ogar remained on the other side of the doorway. He raised a brow at George's hands on her stomach but said nothing as he sat on the other side of the table with the guys. "Napoleon made sure to stick me in your honor Carter."

Sam patted George's hands again before she pulled away, letting him take his hands off of her stomach and becoming General Hammond again. "It's good to know she keeps her word," Sam smiled.

"I always keep my word." Sam looked over to find Janet at the top of the stairs that led to the Control Room, a plate of cookies in hand. "Here," she smiled as she handed the plate to Sam. "You had better not eat all of them."

Sam looked up from the plate of cookies, one already in her mouth, and knew she was already a nice shade of pink. Deciding quickly that she didn't care she finished eating the cookie she'd already shoved in her mouth and then sat the plate on the table before she grabbed a second cookie. "If you didn't want me to eat them all you shouldn't have given me this many."

"Maybe some of them are for us Carter," Jack said as he tried to reach for a cookie.

However, Teal'c's hand shot out and practically slammed Jack's into the table, drawing all eyes to him. "It would be unwise for you to attempt to take Samantha's food again O'Neill."

"You know Carter," Jack said as he slowly pulled his hand back. "I'm getting real tired of your food being protected by the Jaffa Nation."

"If you did not anger Samantha so when you constantly take her food then we would have no need to prevent your actions," Teal'c offered. "Stress is not good for her or her children."

"Hey, those are my kids too you know."

"That is negligible."

Janet tried to cover her laugh with a cough before she gently took a cookie. At her actions Sam merely smiled and Teal'c just nodded his head. "Oh for cryin' out loud!"

"On a more relative note," Hammond intervened. "Sam's kept me up to date on Eleftheria as usual, as well as the team operations. I must say I'm rather impressed that you've actually kept up with your paperwork Jack."

"Sam gave him a babysitter," Daniel smiled.

"Hey, Spacemonkey! Shut the hell up!"

"What the Colonel is trying to say Sir," Sam offered with a smile. "Is that he doesn't want you to know that Mal'tec is very effective in persuading him to complete his reports on time."

Hammond's brow rose in interest making Jack grumble. "Thank you for that information Colonel," Hammond offered to both Sam and Jack. After all, that could come in handy one day. "Lucky for you Sam and I talked yesterday and debriefed already. The only question she couldn't answer for me was if she had been 'glowing' recently and how frequently that occurred."

"Ah, well she's turned on the lights for the Doc a couple of times," Jack offered honestly. "She's smart though. We made sure to tell her that the matter was classified and was unlikely to cause any trouble during the pregnancy."

"I told her that she could double check with Janet but not to ask for specific details," Sam concluded.

"And she accepted that," Daniel asked in surprise.

"Yes Daniel," Sam nearly sighed.

"Believe it or not Danny boy some people understand that it's not always appropriate to ask questions or challenge Carter," Jack smirked.

"Anyways," Sam continued. "Beyond that no one else knows."

"She's lit up a couple times in our quarters," Jack stated. "But she's good at focusing on other things outside of the quarters."

"And have you managed to gain any control," Hammond questioned.

"I don't think so," Sam offered honestly. "I still don't have any idea that I'm doing it at the time."

"Well, she did manage to practically shut it down once."

"What do you mean," Janet asked.

"When the Doc tried to find the twins heartbeats she had some difficulties and Carter lit up like a Christmas tree. Next thing we know there was a problem with an SG team and in the blink of an eye the glow was gone."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah," Jack nodded. "Once she was behind closed doors though, bam, bright lights."

"So the only thing we know for sure is that your concern about the twins is what's causing the glowing?"

"Yes Sir."

"Alright," Hammond sighed. "Are you going to be able to go two weeks without glowing Sam?"

"Honestly Sir I think so. Janet was able to find both heartbeats and has assured me that they are both in good health. Unless one of the Ancients shows up I can't imagine what could make me glow during my leave."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. You all have the next two weeks for downtime, I suggest you use it well," Hammond smiled.