AU: Samantha wakes up to an unexpected surprise... as does Bree and Charlie...
TRIGGERS: Nothing specific though some implied sexual situations
Chapter 9: Surprise!
Saturday, 19thJune 2004 – Samantha and Jack's house – Samantha O'Neill
Rolling over and opening my eyes, my dreamscape that showed Jack sleeping beside me disappeared. In truth, it had already gone when my mind transitioned from asleep to awake, though I chose to keep my eyes closed and my memorised projection of his form running until I could not ignore the need for the bathroom any longer. Now the only golden glow left was from the slithers of sunlight coming through the gap in the closed curtains. With a sigh, I pushed the blankets back, came to my feet and headed to the bathroom. Once I was done, I washed my hands and turned to dry them then stopped abruptly when something in the mirror caught my attention.
"Oh my…" I breathed with an instant smile. My belly had suddenly appeared overnight. With Grace, it had been gradual. A little bit at a time towards the end of my first trimester. This was… so sudden. Yesterday my belly had still appeared to be flat, well as flat as a belly that had already borne a child could be. Running my hands from the top to the bottom over my nightdress, the bump was pronounced.
"Wow." I breathed and smiled wider, drawing my lower lip between my teeth. "Hey, baby." I said as I ran my hands around my new addition. The sudden need to share this encouraged me to dress quickly, choosing a summer dress that would not hide it too much.
Charlie had been using the spare room for the last few weeks since he had been approved to find housing outside the mountain. The problem had been finding something suitable. While he was a simple man, his relationship with Bree had been going strong, so he wanted to find a place that she would be happy with, not that they had talked about moving in together, but he had seen her almost every day this week. Sometimes he stayed at her place with her sister, but mostly he was here. Occasionally, Bree would stay over as well when her sister had become particularly, well pregnant. Having done the solo mum thing, I could not understand why she was choosing to do it on her own supplementing a father for her sister, not that I would ever say anything because it wasn't my place to do so. Besides I didn't know her that well.
The dress I chose was a halter neck peridot green number that stopped just above my knees. It was Jack's favourite. The snug waistline stretched over my small bump nicely, though I still turned to the side and ran my hands over my baby again just to make sure it stood out. The biggest issue was fitting my breasts in the top part of the dress. My cleavage was very full, but there wasn't much I could do about that, and it was too hot for a cardigan. I just hoped it didn't make Charlie uncomfortable. I could already hear him moving around the kitchen and dining.
With one last look, I smiled and turned to head down the hallway. Coming into the kitchen, I was about to say good morning when I realised it wasn't Charlie.
"Oh. Morning Bree." I greeted. She looked up from whatever she was drinking. "Whoa, are you OK?" I asked, coming closer. "You look…" I didn't want to say awful, but she really did. She had visited Charlie in the evenings a few times this week, but never stayed over. Though it seemed that she returned at some point last night. I had always given them space since what they had was very new and they were still in the limerence stage of the relationship that involved lots of hugging, kissing and insatiable sex. Insatiable loud sex that sometimes had me giggling.
"Urggh… no, but I will be. That time of the month I'm afraid." She muttered and took a sip of her water then dropped her head to the table and took a few deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth.
"OK." I replied, though I observed her for a moment longer, then walked into the kitchen past my old friend, the coffee machine as it filtered its contents into the carafe below, and to the stove to boil some water for my tea. Though my morning sickness had abated in the last three weeks, having ginger tea in the mornings had become a habit again, just like it had with Grace.
Turning around, I looked out at Bree again. She had her head laying on the table sideways. Though I had only known her for three months, I had never seen her this sick during her monthly cycle. She typically got a mild headache in the first few days, but that was it. The niggle at the back of my mind grasped onto the'what if'thought. She had been on antibiotics for five days due to an infected cut about six weeks ago, so it wasn't outside the realm of possibility considering how much time they spent in bed. Well, bed wasn't accurate. I smiled remembering the time I caught them on the sofa.
Opening the cupboard, I withdrew another mug and cut up some more ginger, then opened the pantry and found a new box of plain crackers. By the time I had done that, the water was boiling. Evenly pouring the water into the mugs, I gave each one a quick stir, then butted them together so that I could pick them both up in one hand leaving my other hand free for the crackers.
"Hey. Sit up. Scrunching over like that will make it worse." I instructed as I took the chair beside her. She did, and I slid her one of the mugs and the box. "Take a sip, it will help settle your stomach. So will the crackers." She eyed my offerings and then me briefly, suspicion immediately clouding her eyes. Having gone through this with her sister, she knew what I was getting at.
"Oh, I'm not… well you know. It's just…" She started her denial while staring at the tea, then paused as if thinking something through. I saw the moment she put two and two together. Taking a couple of deep breaths she suddenly looked up, covered her mouth and then ran for the kitchen sink. Getting up, I followed her.
"Bree. It's OK. You're OK." I soothed while running my hand up and down her back. She had her eyes clamped shut as she fought a wave of nausea.
"I can't be. It's too soon. It's… we've…" She stuttered, then had to take a few more breaths. "We haven't talked about… things." She said with fear in her voice.
"Hey. Hey." I turned her to face me, she looked awful and scared. "Do you want this?" I asked, my hands on her upper arms. I knew that Charlie did. He had already gushed over her and how he felt, his fears that he was infatuated, that it wasn't love, just lust, even though what he was feeling was more than that, but until she gave him a sign, he didn't want to ruin things by confessing.
"I…" She swallowed and breathed, "…sure, one day. It's just… what if he doesn't. What if I'm cornering him into something he doesn't want. What if…" She began talking in circles, so I took the chance to intervene.
"What if it's what he's wanted for years but couldn't have." I finished for her. She looked at me with searching eyes asking a question I had never shared the answer to with anyone, not even Jack. "He thought Grace was his, at first." I confessed sadly while looking at a magnetic picture of my little girl on the fridge. "He was so happy. By the time she was a year old, she looked so much like Jack that I couldn't keep letting him believe she was his. He was devastated, though I think he had suspected before then."
"What happened between you and Jack for you to be apart?" She asked the difficult question. It was one thing to have a backstory for yourself, but another to try and embellish that story and make it fit properly while not making so difficult to remember that I got it wrong down the track.
"Well, like Charlie, Jack is Air Force." I began, "He works in a highly classified program that sends him away a lot. He was in an accident. We thought he died." I said, then shut my eyes desperately trying to block out the sound of his head hitting the wall. "The doctors managed to save him, but he had retrograded amnesia."
"Oh my God, he forgot you?" She gasped, her hand back over her mouth. I nodded, letting the pain from my husband's death wash over me. "Is that how you and Charlie… you know."
"Yeah. I was devastated. Those were very dark days. Charlie and I moved away because I couldn't deal with seeing my husband every day when he didn't know me." I explained. That part had been true enough. While spending two days in his presence five years ago, I realised that if I could have stayed in this reality then, I wouldn't have been able to stand working with a version of my husband who did not remember or love me. It would have been worse than dealing with his death.
"What made you come back?" She asked after another wave of nausea washed through her. There was no doubt in my mind that this was not menstrual.
"C'mon, you need that tea and those crackers. Charlie will be up soon, and I am guessing you don't want to look like this." I prompted, looking at the clock and noting that he had already slept in, though since he was off duty today and these two had been up until the wee hours, that wasn't a surprise.
"Yeah." She agreed as I guided her back to the dining table. Once she was seated, I slid the mug in front of her and leaned against the cupboard. She took a tentative sip, then another before sighing. "Wow. That's… so much better." With a smile, I opened the box of crackers and passed them to her. She took one and munched on it slowly.
"Those were all I ate for nearly a month. Thankfully mine stopped a few weeks ago, but I like the tea." I said as I took another sip. I observed as she made her way through the crackers and tea, her face looking a little less greenish and pale with each passing minute. She cast her eyes over my front once, then looked again.
"Whoa. I swear that wasn't there yesterday." She commented on my bump. Looking down, I smiled and smoothed my free hand over it. I didn't think I would stop doing that for a while. "Are you sure you don't have two in there?" Her comment made me laugh. She knew I had received two embryos', though only one took hold. While part of me was relieved, another part was sad that I didn't manage to keep both.
"No. My scan last week showed only one." I confirmed as my hand continued running up and down. I had forgotten how sensitive my belly became at this time which made me instantly miss Jack even more. The last three months had been a struggle, but with Charlie, Daniel, Teal'c and now Bree, things had been a little easier. Daniel occasionally brought Cassie to visit, but those visits had been less and less lately because she just didn't have that same connection with me that she had with Major Sam. I missed Grace, but the knowledge that she was safe with John and the other Sam was enough for me to stay strong.
Just then Charlie walked out while yawning, his bare chest on display and pyjama pants dangling precariously from his hips while his hand scratched at his head. Bree cast her eyes over him and sighed quietly, though not soft enough for me not to hear, so I hid my giggle in my mug. Like Jack, he was a damn fine specimen of man.
"Morning." He greeted through his yawn, walking past Bree, he dropped a kiss on her head, then went into the kitchen. He puttered around for a bit before coming back out with an empty bowl, a spoon, the box of Froot Loops and the carton of milk before heading back in for his mug of coffee. Every time he passed by Bree, he kissed her head and ran his hands across her shoulders leaving her with a misty-eyed look of desire. Oh, she had it bad. When he came back out for the last time, he stopped and looked at me, his eyes stopping on my cleavage momentarily before travelling south.
"Ah, Samantha. Do you have a… bump?" He asked, then twirled his finger in a silent order for me to turn to the side. With a sideways smile, I ran my free hand down and over the bump as I turned so that he could see the full affect. It wasn't a large bump, but it was most definitely more pronounced than yesterday. His eyebrows raised high on his forehead as I turned back to face him. "Whoa. That's… sudden and… sudden." He said with a look from me to Bree and back to me. "Can I… I mean… is it OK if…"
"Of course you can." I coaxed. He looked at Bree once more, then took a step forward and placed his splayed hand across my bump. The smile on his face was instant, so I shared a reassuring look with Bree trying to convey how much she did not have to worry about whether this was something Charlie would want.
"Wow." He said, then crouched down. "Hey baby." He spoke to my bump, his hand still splayed across the front. "I'm your Uncle Charlie." I could see him fighting his desire to be more fatherly so I looked at Bree again. She had her eyes closed and was breathing through yet another wave of nausea.
When Charlie stood again, I looked at him. "What?" He asked then looked at Bree, his expression becoming concerned. "Hey, are you OK?" He asked as he walked back to her and placed his hands on her shoulders so his fingers could play in her hairline. He slowly cast his eyes over the box of crackers to her mug which clearly did not contain the coffee she normally drank in the morning, then back to me. His eyes held a silent question, so I shrugged because though she had the symptoms, she hadn't tested, so we didn't really know for certain.
"Oh God." She muttered, then covered her mouth and ran to the bathroom. Charlie watched until she disappeared around the corner then looked at me with urgency in his eyes, a look of complete shock there for but a moment before it melted away and became barely contained excitement.
"Sammie. Is she…?" He asked shakily.
"I would say so. I have some tests in the cabinet." I replied, then put my mug down and walked past him, motioning for him to follow. As we approached the bathroom, I could hear her retching. When she stopped, I knocked gently. "Bree. Can I come in?" I asked tentatively.
"Samantha, is it just you?" She asked in a timbre that included a fair amount of tears. Looking at Charlie, I could see that he was struggling with her feeling this way and not wanting him to do anything to help her.
"No. Charlie's with me." I replied honestly. There was more retching, and she burst into tears. I looked at my friend. His hands were in his hair and his breathing was a little fast, in short, he was freaking out, but I didn't think it was because his girlfriend was very likely pregnant but because she was unwell and hiding from him. "Give us minute. She'll be OK." I attempted to console him.
He leaned against the opposite wall and nodded, then covered his face with his hands. "OK." He nodded, "OK."
I turned back to the door, "Bree, I'm coming in." When I heard a groan that sounded a little like an affirmative, I opened the door and slipped inside finding her on the floor hugging the toilet bowl, tears streaming down her face. Reaching for the glass I kept in the bathroom for just this reason, I filled it then handed it to her.
"Thanks." She murmured, then used it to wash out her mouth while I reached over and flushed the toilet. She handed the half full glass back, then shakily got to her feet. Opening the cabinet, I retrieved the box that had my pregnancy tests in it, double checked that they were in date then turned and offered one to her. She looked at it then at me before wrapping her arms around her body and closing her eyes.
At length, she reached for the box, withdrew a test and silently followed the step-by-step instructions. Placing the test flat on the surface of the bathroom cabinet, she then finished up on the toilet and washed her hands.
"You know if you are, he will stick by you. I can promise you that." I tried to reassure her.
"Yeah, because he's honourable and amazing, but Sam… we haven't talked about this. We've only been together for three months. I don't want him to think I did this on purpose. I don't want him to wake up one day and realise…" She burst in to tears again, "…and realise…" I couldn't hear her final words through the babbling and hiccupping tears. She was petrified that he wouldn't want this.
Drawing her in for a hug, I let her pour her emotion out. Looking down at the test, I noted it already had two screaming red lines despite it not having been the recommended five minutes processing time. After going through so many of these tests, I knew that the five minutes was merely a suggestion. The earlier in your pregnancy you were, the longer it took to give a positive test. Bree would be around six to eight weeks assuming it was when she was on the antibiotics that this happened, which explained why the test was reading positive so quickly.
She pulled back and looked down, then covered her mouth and hiccupped another sob. "Oh God. What am I going to do?" She asked.
"Bree." I grabbed her attention by putting my hands on her shoulders. "Do you love Charlie?" I asked the blunt question that needed to be asked. Her lower lip quivered, then she nodded as the tears continued to flow.
"Yes, I think so." She said tentatively, then looked at me as if seeking some form of permission that she did not need. "Yes. Yes." Though her answer made me smile, it was not my place to reassure her that everything would be alright. Charlie had to do that.
"Can I let him in now?" I asked, bending my knees a little so I could look into her eyes. I could feel her shaking, but she still nodded her head in acquiescence giving me permission to let the father of her child in to see her.
