Friday afternoon the phone in Sam's lab rang.
"Carter." she answered.
"It's me Sam. I'm sorry, but we have another briefing sheldued with the General, a few Tok'ra came through the gate half an hour ago to brief us about some very interesting ruins. Sadly it's not Dad. This could take a while but I'll be home the whole weekend. Why don't you go ahead, pick Cassie up and do your girly stuff today, I will join you as soon as possible."
"That's ok, I was just about to be finished. Don't take too long. See you later."
Sam closed her lab and drove to pick up Cassie.
As she parked her car in the driveway the frontdoor flew open and the teenager stormed outside into the waiting arms of Sam.
"Sam, great that you're here. Wow, you're huge!" Cassie said gently placing a hand on her belly.
"Thank you Cassandra, exactly what I'd like to hear." she smiled.
"Sorry Sam, I just wanted to say you look great, pregnancy suits you."
"I know what you wanted to say, I just mogged you a bit. You're ready to go? SG-1 are still in a meeting so Jack will meet us at home when they're finished. So I thought we could do a bit of the girly stuff today. What do you say, takeout, a movie, some nail polish and we chat a little?"
"Sounds perfect, let's go."
Sam ordered Chinese and Cassie picked out a hallmark movies. They sat down on the couch beside each other.
"You know, you can still cuddle up on me. That's doesn't have to change." Sam told her, because they always lay close when they watched a movie and she appreciated that Cassie wanted to give her space, but that wasn't necessary. "Just that I'm pregnant doesn't mean you can't touch me anymore."
Cassies face lit up with a smile "I wasn't sure, how does it feel to have a baby growing inside of you?" she asked curious.
"That's difficult to explain, the first thing I felt were like butterflies fluttering around. And now that it became bigger I feel arms, knees and feet kicking and streching inside of me. It's overwhelming and sometimes a bit painful if it hits a rib or my bladder." Sam loughed "But what's really cool is that you sometimes can see and feel it from the outside."
Sam pushed her shirt up over her belly so that Cassie could have a closer look.
"Is it kicking right now?"
"A bit, but I'm not sure if you can see it. Place your hand here." Sam said, grabbing the teenagers hand and placed it on a spot just below her bellybutton. "I felt it Sam, that's amazing. Wow, this was a strong one."
"I think it likes you, keep talking, sometimes it's like communicating, there are voices it loves and recognizes, than the kicking is stronger."
Just as Sam finished talking Cassie could see a little feet pushing from the inside. Clearly amazed by that she kept talking "Hey there little one, I'm Cassie, we will spent a lot of time together when you're out there. Because I've the honor to babysit you, so you better like me. And I tell you something, I'm going to be a big sister, you'll have a playmate soon. That's going to be fun."
A little tear escaped Sam's eyes at seeing Cassie talking to her belly in such an affectionate way. Soon they fell asleep on the couch, Cassie head and her hand still resting on Sam's belly, that's how Jack found them when he got home.
He stood there a moment longer than necessary just to soak in the view of his two favorite girls cuddled up together keeping the little one save between them.
He leaned down to place a kiss on Sam's check. Slowly she opened her eyes whispering "Hey, what time is it?"
"It's after midnight, you might have fallen asleep during your film." he smirked.
"No we did finish the movie, but Cassie was curious about the pregnancy so we just talked a bit. She's thrilled that she'll be a big sister soon, but I think talking about this stuff with me is easier for her than talking to her mother."
"Seems you had a great evening, let me take her to the guest room and then we can also go to bed." Jack said picking up Cassie.
The next morning Sam woke up to an empty bed as she heard voices and clattering from the kitchen. Jack and Cassie already deep in conversation while he made pancakes for breakfast.
"Good morning, slept well?" Sam asked Cassie and placed a kiss on top of her head.
"Morning Sam! Yes, thank you. Jack told me you would like to go and pick up the paint for the nursery and set up the furniture today?"
"We thought it could be fun, but if you don't like to we can do other things. You're not here to work but to have fun."
"I would love to help set up the nursery Sam. Do you have a favorite color? I assume it's not going to be pink or blue?!" she said with a wink, fully aware that they don't want to know the gender before.
"I thought we go with a light green for two walls and the rest will be white, the furniture is also mostly white and we can still bring color in it with decorations."
"Then let's start eating otherwise we'll never get to start." Cassie urged them to hurry.
It was a fun day of painting, assembling furniture and decorating the room.
At the end of the day they were really happy with their work.
With a lighthearted chuckle, Sam gazed upon the sight of her two beloved family members, Jack and Cassie, who appeared to have spent more time painting each other than the wall they were designated to beautify. Their hair and skin drenched in color, it was a sight to behold. Sam couldn't help but laugh at the pure joy and unbridled fun radiating from their beaming faces.
"Why don't you two take a shower and I'll start dinner."
"I'll go first." Cassie screamed and made her way to the shower already as Jack approached Sam.
"So, what do you think? You like the room now?"
"I love it Jack, it's perfect. I can hardly wait."
He leaned down to place a kiss on her belly and one of her hands that were placed on her back found their way into his hair to caress his head. He looked up and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips.
"Is your back bothering you?" he asked knowing that it probably would from the long day of working and sitting on the floor to screw the furniture together.
"A bit, but it's worth it. Look how beautiful the room is now."
"Yes, I like it too. And I'll give you a back rub later." he smirked.
"Oh I know these back rubs, they always get us in trouble. We don't do this with a teenage girl next door."
"That's really not what I meant, but I like the way you think."
The barbecue was a lot of fun. As it was a warm day Cassie talked Teal'c and Captain Jeffery into a waterfight. Soon Jack and Daniel joined them, that left Sam and Janet behind sitting comfortable in their deck chair.
"Thank you for taking Cassie. Daniel and I needed the time to talk and to process the news."
"Nothing to thank us for. We loved having her here. It was fun to do design the nursery with her. Everything all right with you and Daniel?"
"Yes, everything is fine. We just needed a moment to adjust to the new situation. Daniel will move in with us. I think Cass will love this. You know, this week she called him Dad for the first time, he was so proud."
"Wow, I didn't know they were that close. That's wonderful new."
"Yeah" Janet nodded "and now I'd love to see the nursery! Would you show me?"
"Of course. Come on."
As Janet entered the room she first saw the light green walls.
"Beautiful Sam, so you really don't want to know the gender yet?"
"No, we just want it to be healthy."
"But you clearly have a preference, don't you?"
She sighed softly "I would love a little boy, in fact I have this feeling it will be a boy, but I think Jack would want a girl. I think because maybe a girl wouldn't remind him of Charlie so much. But he will love it no matter what. Did I tell you that we met Sara?"
"I'm sure the first time he sees the baby he will be in love. No you didn't tell me. When did you meet?"
"I drove Jack to the cemetery, he meets up there with Sara every year, he told her about us and afterwards we met at the car. It was quite nice. She also remarried last month."
"How does Jack feel about all of this?"
"He is relieved that she found someone too. So he doesn't have a guilty conscience that he also moved on."
Suddenly they heard footsteps behind them, it was Jack.
"Here you are. The guys are about to head home, want to say goodbye?"
"Yes, we're coming."
When they were finally alone Jack took Sam to the bedroom and she got her long awaited bag rub.