Note: We are now done with the Stargate series. However, there are a lot of characters who just need their lives neatly wrapped up, before we can say that we are done with them. So, I'm going to continue the longest story in the history of stories (well, apart from The Three Musketeers or what not). From now on I'm dropping that "Part" nonsense, and just giving you the year. Keep in mind, that I had season one of Stargate happen in 1995 in this story, so this chapter is one year after the events in the TV show Stargate: SG-1 are over for our characters. There is going to be more skipping around soon, because our characters have some growing up to do, and I hope to finish this story before it really is the length of an encyclopedia set.
Daniel has often wondered at what exact moment he became a soldier. He certainly didn't notice it happening at the time, but suddenly one day he found himself so alert that he wakes to any sound in the night.
"Vala?" he asks as she attempts to get out of bed so smoothly that he would not notice.
"Go back to sleep," she says, tiptoeing away from him.
"What's going on?" he asks, flipping on the light, unfooled by the strain in her voice that always means she is lying.
She sighs, "I might be a tiny bit in labor."
"A tiny bit, huh?" he says laughing, "And why exactly were you reluctant to tell me?"
"Because you are going to be delivering a baby pretty soon, and I wanted you to be well rested. You can no doubt get in another half hour of sleep before you actually have to get up."
"Yeah, I think I'll be there for the whole labor, thanks," he says.
The fact that this was going to be a home birth, with Daniel playing midwife, was the first of many concessions to raising this child in a mix of cultures. On Vala's planet, childbirth was a family affair.
Two Hours Later
"I didn't think this home birth thing through!" Vala moans.
"Sweetie, with the way you are dilated, it is way too late to be re-thinking things," Daniel says.
"It's just that you're so busy down there, there is no-one up here to feel sorry for me and hold my hand."
"I feel sorry from you from down here. That should count for something."
"I want Olivia."
"Olivia? Our fourteen-year-old? You really want her to come in here and witness your labor?"
"Yes, please!" Vala says.
"You have got to be kidding me!"
"I witnessed my mom's labor when I was only five years old. You need to be more open-minded to my home culture!" Vala protests.
"You have a sibling? You never told me that," Daniel says in awe.
Vala shakes her head, and Daniel realizes with horror that this child must have been one of the many children that does not survive long in primitive societies. This is probably not the thing that she needs to focus on right now.
"Vala, I'm very sorry that you got stuck doing it alone, but we could have invited someone over earlier. I just don't think that is a good enough reason to put her through that."
"It's not a traumatic event that she has to survive. I felt really close to my brother and my mother. It's a bonding experience. I think with how old Livy is, and the fact that she's not genetically related to this kid, we might need a little extra help in getting her to feel like this is really her sibling."
"So, it's really for her?" Daniel asks skeptically.
Vala nods her head, and Daniel doesn't miss a tiny fleck of fear in her eye. Well, even if it isn't 100% for the girl, it is not likely to do her much harm, and his wife really deserves to have someone pay attention to her while she pushes a human being out of her body.
"Are you going to be ok while I go get her?" he asks.
At Vala's nod, he heads across the hall to his bedroom. He touches his daughter's cheek lightly, "Livy, honey," he says.
She opens her eyes right away, "Is there a new sister to greet?"
"Not yet," Daniel asks.
Olivia's face falls. She knows the birth plan, and she's pretty sure what her being woken up in the middle of the night means. "So something is wrong, and you have to go to the hospital. You need me to watch the boys, right?"
"No, nothing is wrong, it just turns out that Vala, as strong as she is, is not as strong as she thought she was. She wants you to come and sit by her while she has the baby. Now, if you don't want to, you don't have to. She doesn't need anything. She would just feel more comfortable, and I think she's a little bit scared."
Olivia crinkles up her nose, "I'm not going to have to see any of the bloody squishy part, am I?"
Daniel smiles, "I'll try my best to keep that from you, but I can't make any promise."
"Yeah, I'll do it," Olivia says after another moment of hesitation.
-0-
Hours later, it occurs to Olivia that this probably qualifies as the bloody squishy part. Her new little sister, Claire, after all, was covered in a slimy layer of blood, and was certainly quite squishy from head to toe. But it turned out, Olivia realized, that she didn't mind the bloody squishy part when it was also her family.
Six Months Later
Teal'c opens the door to see a boy right in the middle of blowing a bubble. His eyes are half-closed in a bored sort of look that Teal'c finds incredibly disrespectful, although he can't quite put his finger on why.
When the bubble finally pops on its own accord, unhastened by any idea of what was proper, the boy says, "Yo, here to pick up Tammy."
Teal'c raises his eyebrow.
"Dude, Tammy lives here, right?"
"Tammara, you are enquired after," Teal'c calls behind him without ever removing his eyes from the boy in front of him. The boy seems oddly unterrified by the man's actions, and that has Teal'c more than a little disconcerted.
Tam bounds down the stairs wearing less clothes than Teal'c has ever seen her in. She walks over by the boy. Teal'c is about to intervene, and prevent her leaving with this person who is so obviously unfit. Then he smacks her on the butt, hard. "Come on, babe," he says.
Teal'c reaches over, and grabs the boy by his hear. He pulls him to the door, and flings him out it, locking the door behind him, before the boy has even gathered up a protest.
He turns to Tammy, thinking that she is going to be mad at him for treating her boyfriend like that. Instead, he sees gratitude. She is crying.
He opens is arms for a hug, which he has found during his time on Earth, is a very effective way of dealing with people who are crying.
"Thank you, Teal'c," she says, sobbing into his giant chest.
"I would never allow someone to harm you," he tells her. That is something that she desperately needed to hear. That she desperately needed to believe.
Note: I think this chapter is unclear. It's kind of a breaking the cycle of violence thing. Abused people tend to choose abusers. Not with Teal'c around you don't.