It was a quiet group that exited through the Stargate. Teal'c came through the event horizon first, followed by Carter, with Daniel and a young woman close behind. There was a brief pause and Colonel O'Neill walked out – looking his usual insouciant self – although to someone who knew him well, the tension around his eyes was obvious.

George Hammond stood at the base of the gate, watching as each one of his people moved down the ramp. Jacob had sent a message, telling the SGC that Sg-1 – plus a visitor – would be arriving soon. The message had indicated all were fine, other than that he'd been told nothing.

He couldn't help the relief he felt – he always felt –when one of his teams came home safely. He'd never admit it to a soul, but that relief was especially fierce when the team was Sg-1. Like a parent, he refused to have favorites – or at least to let on that he did. He couldn't help but feel close to this team, both as a group and as individual members. They had been the first team to go through the gate – hell, Jackson and O'Neill had been the first people to go through. Since then they'd been through hell together, figuratively and literally. They had also saved the planet's collective butt on many occasions.

Depending on the outcome of this particular mission – and he admitted to himself that he was dying of curiosity – they could be facing another journey to that hot and miserable place. He sighed as Teal'c reached him, following quickly by the rest of the travelers.

"How did things go people?" he asked, looking at O'Neill.

The other man gave a lopsided grin, which definitely didn't reach past his mouth, and shrugged. "All back safely Sir – the rest – well, I'd like to wait to until the briefing, if that's okay?"

Hammond regarded him closely for a second and then nodded. He couldn't blame the Colonel for wanting to keep things quiet. This was a sensitive issue and needed careful handling. "I see you've got a guest?" he asked, giving tacit agreement to holding off.

"Yes Sir", O'Neill answered, sounding his usual jaunty self. That it was a false jauntiness was obvious to anyone who knew the man. "This is Saeena. Saeena – George." He made a gesture between the two.

Saeena moved closer to Daniel as if seeking safety from him. She stared at Hammond with a look of fear and of wonder. She was still dealing with the trip through the strange water – and the arrival in some strange kind of cave.

Hammond sighed and gave his officer 'The Look'. "Colonel! Saeena – welcome to the SGC. Don't worry, everything is going to be fine. Uh – Dr. Jackson?" He turned to look at their resident archaeologist, his brow lifted in a question.

"Uh – yes Sir. This is – uh – you know that. Saeena is – well, she was – uh – can we wait until the briefing for this too Sir?"

Hammond frowned, wondering what the hell was going on. He didn't like letting strangers – aliens – into his base without having some information. He had no idea who she -"

"She's safe Sir", O'Neill told him, as if reading his thoughts. "She needs to get checked out by Frasier, but she poses no threat."

The general again regarded his officer and finally nodded. If Jack said she was okay, he knew he could feel confident. If anything, O'Neill was more cautious then he was when it came to alien beings.

"Okay then", he said decisively, wanting to get this show on the road. "Get yourselves down to the Infirmary and get checked out. We'll meet in one hour for a briefing and you can all tell me what's going on then."

Jack rubbed his nose and grimaced slightly. "Uh – could we make that two hours Sir? I think – uh – Saeena and Carter might need a bit more time."

Okay – what the hell was going on? George closed his eyes briefly, wondering how it was that his blood pressure wasn't heading for the surface. "Fine", he snapped out. "Two hours." He turned to O'Neill. "I'd like to see you before then Colonel."

Jack sighed. He'd been expecting this. "Yes Sir. I'll be there."

They made their way down the long corridor to the Infirmary, the silence still heavy. Saeena continued to stick to Daniel like the proverbial leech. She jumped in fear at any sound or presence – looking terrified as she passed some of the SF's. Daniel put his hand on her arm to try and comfort her, although he gave Jack a pained look.

Oh yeah, O'Neill thought, this was going to be fun.

"Doc", Jack said, sounding calm as he walked into the Infirmary.

"Colonel", she acknowledged. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah – well – no injuries", he qualified.

She frowned at that, picking up on something in the Colonel's voice, but left unsaid. "No injuries. But something else?"

Jack glanced over at Carter, waiting for her to say something. He saw her lift her face and glance at him but then she looked down again. He sighed and faced the doctor. "I think Carter wants to see you by herself", he finally said. He scratched his forehead and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Daniel?"

"Yeah – Janet, this is Saeena. She'll need to be checked out and she'll need an ultrasound."

Janet's head whipped around, looking between Daniel and Jack. "An ultrasound?"

"Yeah. She might be – pregnant."

Since no one said anything after that Janet simply nodded. She wasn't sure what was going on, but knowing the reason that Sg-1 had been gone she was worried about what this all meant. She got one of her best nurses to come and take Saeena to a separate room. The young woman looked frightened, but Daniel assured her that everything would be fine. With a final look at him she followed Lieutenant Shaw.

"Okay, Kelly here will check you gentlemen out. That's okay Colonel?" She eyed the man carefully, wanting to make sure there wasn't something she was missing.

"Fine Doc. We're all okay."

She nodded. "Okay Sam – let's go into the ISO room." With a final glance at the Colonel – who was looking in concern at Sam, she followed the Major, worried about what she was going to find.

As Jack watched Carter leave with the doctor he suddenly realized that not once had she spoken to Saeena. He sighed again. Talk about FUBAR!

"Okay Sam", Janet watched as her friend hopped up on the exam table. "Tell me what's going on."

Sam wished she was anywhere else but here right now. She wanted to put this all behind her, to ignore it, to pretend it hadn't happened. She wanted to go back to her house, have Pete come and put his arms around her and tell her he loved her and that they were going to have the perfect life together. She wanted to not think about surrogates and pregnancy and babies and Colonels – okay one Colonel. She wanted to not think about anything – unfortunately, she had no choice.

"He kidnapped me."

"What?" Janet frowned at her and slowly put down the clipboard she was carrying. "Who kidnapped you – and how – and why?"

"Ra'mash, the guy who stole the embryos – by sneaking up behind me and knocking me out – to impregnate me with one of the embryos."

Janet reacted in stunned silence, attempting to make sense of all Sam was saying. Finally – "impregnate?"

"Yeah."

"And – did he?"

"Yes – at least, I think so." This time her voice was so low Janet could barely hear it – although she did in fact hear it and wanted to swear.

"Where the hell was the Colonel – and Teal'c and Daniel?"

"They were trying to find him. They left me to watch for him." She grimaced. "I didn't do a very good job of it."

"They left you by yourself?" Janet cried indignantly.

"Janet, I'm an experienced officer. I do things like this all the time. Teal'c and I were both watching while Daniel and the Colonel went into town to see if they could locate him. It was just bad luck that he found me."

"And – Sam, are you sure he -" she motioned to Sam's stomach.

"Pretty sure – at least he told me he had, although I was asleep or unconscious at the time so I don't remember. We do know that the embryos he had were gone when the guys found me."

"Oh my God." Janet knew it wasn't exactly a professional response, but she couldn't help herself. This was – really bad. "What – what are you going to do?"

"I don't know Janet!" Sam suddenly crumpled before her friends eyes. She began to shake and the tears rushed down her cheeks.

Janet rushed forward and put her arms around her friend and held her as she cried, whispering what she couldn't have said afterward, although they were many of the same words she used when Cassie cried or was upset. It took a while but finally Sam began to calm down.

"Sorry about that", she hiccupped, pulling gently away from her friend and sitting up straight. "I don't know where that came from."

"Oh, I think I can figure it out. Come on Sam – you've gone through a hellish time – you deserve a good cry. It's just a good thing you waited until you were with me. It would have terrified the guys."

Sam let out a rather watery giggle at that. "It would have, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, I can just see that panicked look that the Colonel gets on his face when he's faced with something he doesn't know how to handle. Daniel would stumble around, trying to make it better but not really having a clue how, and Teal'c would stand ponderously by, uttering a very wise sounding saying – that actually meant he didn't have a clue how to handle a weeping woman either!"

Sam chuckled even more at that and ended up having to wipe her eyes as much from laughter as from tears.

"So, not that you've got some of that out – let's see how you're doing. We'd better do an ultra – wait!" Janet stepped back and looked at Sam with a startled expression. "The Colonel said that that alien woman needed an ultrasound – that she might be pregnant. What -?"

"Ra'mash implanted an embryo in her as well", Sam answered somberly.

"Oh my God!" Janet said for the second time. "What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea."

Janet sighed and shook her head. "We'll figure something out", she finally said, although both of them knew they were just words.

"Well, you seem healthy", Janet said after a few minutes of examining the Major. "I'll just have them bring the portable ultrasound machine in here and we'll take a look." She reached out and put her hand on Sam's arm. "It really will be okay Sam", she told her. "We're all here for you."

It was at that moment that Sam thought about the Colonel. If she was pregnant, she had no doubt that everyone would rally around her to support her. She knew that even her father would be supportive, once he'd had a chance to freak out. But who would support Jack? He had to be worried sick about this whole thing and yet feeling like he had no control over anything. At least she could decide whether or not to have the baby – at least the one she was carrying.

"Janet", she suddenly said, just as the ultrasound machine was wheeled in by one of the orderlies."

"Yes honey?" Janet told the man he could leave and began to set up the machine.

"Can you – ask Colonel O'Neill if he wants to see this?"

Janet looked up in surprise – no, it was more like shock. "Sam? Are you sure?"

"Yes – no – I don't know. Look, it's his child too and he might want to see it. I think he feels – very alone right now."

Janet walked over to the bed and again touched her friend. "Sam, I haven't asked – do you want to keep this baby? Everyone will understand if you don't. And you know, if you decide – not to – it might be better if the Colonel doesn't see the ultrasound."

Sam stared for a moment and could once again feel her eyes fill up with tears. "I – yes, I want to keep it."

"You're sure? I mean, you don't have to decide right now, but you will need to make the decision before too long. The – fetus – is already six weeks old – at least according to when it had to have been – uh"

"Created?"

"I guess that's the word", Janet nodded. This was so totally out of her range of experience she wasn't quite sure what to say or do.

"Yes."

"What?" Janet looked at her in confusion, having lost track of the conversation.

"Yes I want to keep it. Look Janet, you were the one that told me I might have difficulty getting pregnant at all. This might be my only chance and – I can't – it's my child!"

"Okay Sam – if that's what you want I'm with you one hundred percent. So", she sighed again, "you still want me to talk to the Colonel?"

Sam nodded, not sure if she could speak. As Janet left to go talk with him, she wondered if she was crazy. Did she want him here or not? Part of her thought it was the right thing to do – and part of her wanted him here – wanted him to share this moment with her. But another part of her wanted to keep this from him. This was her child – hers alone – and she didn't want to even think about the fact that she was carrying his child and might have to share it with him.

It was only a couple of minutes later – a couple of minutes during which Sam continued to agonize – when Janet returned. At first Sam thought she was alone, and felt a stab of disappointment along with a huge feeling of relief, but a couple of seconds later the Colonel followed her in.

"Carter?" he said, looking at her carefully. "Doc said you wanted – that you said I could – be here? Are you sure?"

He looked so adorably confused, so sad and so concerned at that moment that she decided she was glad she had told Janet to get him. "Yes, if you are", she said softly. "You don't have to if you'd rather not – I'll understand. I just thought -" her voice conveyed her fear – along with a little bit of hope.

Jack's smile – the one he reserved for very special occasions, suddenly blossomed on his face. At that moment she was really glad she'd asked him to be with her.

"Thanks", was all he said, although she could hear the deep gratitude – and wonder – in his voice.

"Okay, let's get this set up Sam." Janet had her lie back and placed a sheet over her legs up to her waist. With a quick glance at the Colonel she lifted the Major's shirt, tucking it carefully under her breasts. Sam moved a bit, feeling uncomfortable from all the water Janet had made her drink in preparation.

"Who decided that making a pregnant woman drink all that water was a good idea?" she groused – more to fill the silence than anything.

"It's so we can see things Sam", Janet said, sounding distracted. She was doing a few last minute adjustments with the machine. "There! I'm going to put some jelly on your stomach now – don't worry, I've warmed it up but it will feel a bit strange."

Sam noticed that the Colonel kept his eyes on the ultrasound machine rather than on her. She figured he was feeling a little embarrassed by being here – especially with her shirt pulled up and her pants pulled down – even though she was covered by the sheet. She found it rather sweet – although truth to tell, she was feeling rather embarrassed herself.

"Okay, here we go." Janet squirted the warmed gel on her stomach and then began rolling the wand over her. Sam wanted to squirm when it pressed down on her rather full bladder. She just prayed she didn't end up springing a leak!

"What you laughing about Carter?" Jack looked at her in surprise when she let out a soft giggle. She knew it was nerves, but couldn't help herself.

"Nothing Sir", she said, "I'm just a little nervous."

"No reason to be Sam", Janet said with a smile. "Everything looks gre – whoa!" She was squinting at the screen. "Uh – did you say that that Ram- guy – implanted a single embryo?"

Her question was met by dead silence. Janet looked up in surprise, to see strange expressions on both Jack and Sam. "What?" she asked, her brow crinkled.

"Are there two?" Jack said softly.

"You knew?" Janet answered with a question.

"We – figured."

"Yes, then I do see two fetuses here." Janet looked again at the screen. "Do you want to see?"

Sam nodded, unable to speak. She didn't know how to react to the fact that there wasn't just one but two babies. "He – he only talked about one", she murmured.

Since, at that moment Janet turned the monitor Sam stopped thinking about Ra'mash and instead focused on the – "Oh my – are those -?"

"Yes, those are the babies." Janet pointed out two tiny shadows on the screen. "I can try and see if I can hear their heartbeats, although it's probably too early. We can probably see them – but it's usually around eight or ten weeks before you can hear anything."

Sam was staring, mesmerized, at the screen. It took her a few seconds before she realized she had heard nothing from the Colonel. While Janet was fiddling again with the wand and the machine, she looked up at the man standing at her side.

She blinked, sure she hadn't seen him correctly. He was staring at the screen as if – as if – god, were those tears in his eyes? At that moment he glanced down at her, catching her eyes for a brief moment before looking away again. It was then that she saw that not only were they tears, but he had flushed red when he'd seen her looking at him. He was clearly embarrassed to be caught showing such emotion.

At that precise moment her heart did something strange. She was sure it actually stopped and then started again, although Janet certainly didn't seem to catch anything going on. Right after the strange flutter, she could feel her entire body grow warm – not like a fever warm – but warm like – like something wonderful had just happened. Damn it – it had to take more than the Colonel crying over seeing his babies to make her go all – tingly. Still, her heart had done something strange.

"So – there, if you look closely, you can see the hearts. No sound yet – but we can do another ultrasound a little later – or you should be able to hear them at your next appointment with the Doppler."

Janet put away the ultrasound wand and got paper towels to wipe Sam's stomach. Jack had stepped away and was looking down at the floor, giving her some privacy while she rearranged her clothes.

"Thank you", he said softly, finally glancing up at her.

"You're welcome", she smiled. "It – they – are yours too."

"I know but still – thank you. You didn't have to do this."

"Colonel", she closed her eyes. "Jack – I'm keeping the babies."

He could feel his throat tighten up again, just like it had a few moments ago when he'd seen those two little blobs that were his children. He nodded, not sure that he could speak. He immediately grimaced – disgusted at himself – when he saw Sam's look of disappointment. He had to do better.

"I'm glad", he told her, a small smile on his face. He cleared his throat, afraid he was going to disgrace himself again. "I'm here for you – for them – you know." He wanted to ask her – to beg her – if he could be their Daddy. He wanted to scream at her to not let Pete Shanahan be a father to his children. But he could do neither – he could only hope.

"I know", she answered with a smile. "And I want you – both – of us to be part of their lives."

"Thank you", he said again, the gratitude thick in his voice. "I will be, don't worry."

"I hate to interrupt", Janet said, walking over after having wheeled the medical equipment out of the way, "but I need to give you a few instructions Sam. Colonel – you can go if you want."

Jack knew it wasn't really a question – the Doc was telling him to get lost. He nodded, gave Sam another smile and headed towards the door. He was stopped by the Doctor's words –

"What about the alien woman? I understand she might be pregnant too?"