Daughter
Chapter 42 – Oh Baby
"Kid, I just barely left," Jack marveled over the video screen, "and you run off on a cool mission."
Elda grinned at him. She could tell he was in his office in Washington. She leaned back comfortably on the pillows propped up on her bed at the SGC. The tablet rested on her lap. "You already heard what happened?"
"Are you kidding? The SGC has orders to send me every new SG-3 mission report the second they're filed."
She shook her head in amused exasperation. "Oh Gods."
"I even read SG-12's report, too. Their boss gave you high marks."
Her eyes widened slightly. "Really?"
"Yep. He's really appreciative of what you did. Did he tell you so? To your face? He should have."
"Oh, he didn't have to. They went straight to the infirmary once we got in. Then I went to bed."
"You just stay there on base, I take it?"
"Yeah. Mom and I were literally in the elevator ready to go home when I got the call. I assumed she went ahead. I didn't want to wake her up and make her come back to get me."
"You should just get one of your little buddies to be your ride next time."
"I could, I could," she said nonchalantly. Elda decided she would ask Smith if she ever needed ground transport. It might be weird to have Crawfy do it. His girlfriend might disagree with him driving her around. At least she had quarters on base. It didn't really matter to her where she slept while on Earth. If she could really choose, she'd go home to Jasuf every night. But that wasn't feasible with this job of hers.
"What do you have going on today?" Jack asked.
"Colonel Reynolds complained about not being able to do anything in the co-pilot's seat. So I think we're going to work on getting SG-3 added as crew to the in-house puddle jumper."
Jack looked thoughtful. "Maybe you should head over to your Jaffa planet and get him added to your personal ship, too."
"Maybe. I'll let him think of that. I'm not going to be the one to suggest going to Tek'ron." She rolled her eyes.
Her father noticed this and furrowed his brow. "Why?"
Elda huffed. "Cameron and Daniel are being so annoying," she grumbled. "They complained that I went back there again. They're too overprotective!"
Jack laughed. "Because of your boyfriend?"
"Yeah!"
Jack just continued chuckling. "That's funny."
"Dad," Elda whined. "It's not! You should be offended that they're trying to take your place."
"Just ignore them," he suggested. "They don't know the first thing about having kids."
"Mom said she'll try to calm them down."
"I bet she will. But hey, what's wrong with having a couple of uncles worry about you, huh?"
Elda contorted her face. "They can worry all they like. Just not in front of me."
Jack laughed again.
"Uhh, sir, we should warn you. That thing's gonna poke," Smith called out from the crew compartment of the SGC's shuttle.
Reynolds's hand was already secured by the wrist cuff on the co-pilot's console. The needle snapped up suddenly to draw blood from his finger. His eyes blinked, but he otherwise did not react.
"Did that hurt?" Elda asked their CO.
He remained expressionless. "Not really," Reynolds replied flatly.
She glanced askance at Smith with a smirk, reminding him that he cried like a baby when this happened to him on the other ship. She pulled back the cuff and began going through the dialog boxes on the HUD to add their CO to the system. It chimed to affirm the entry. "Alright, Colonel. You're added. Lieutenant?"
Baker stepped into the spot Reynolds vacated. He stared down at the designated panel for his hand. "Aren't you gonna wipe that off or somethin'?" he asked, pointing.
"I'm not diseased, Baker," Reynolds groused.
His 2IC tilted his head. "Just basic hygiene, sir," he tried to argue respectfully.
Crawford blinked. "Oh shit, I didn't even think of that." When he had his turn on Elda's ship, it was immediately after Smith, back when they were heading to the space station.
Elda smiled at them all with amusement. "I think there's an electronic pulse that cleans it between users," she said to Baker reassuringly.
He pursed his lips at her hesitantly. She gestured for him to go ahead. The Lieutenant placed his palm on the console and let Elda proceed with adding him to the registry. He also barely flinched when the ship extracted a sample of his genetic code. After he retracted his hand, he saw a miniscule puncture mark that was barely bleeding. He squeezed it a little to push more blood out. That was part of the protocol he believed healthcare workers followed if they were poked by contaminated needles.
Reynolds watched him and rolled his eyes. "You're such a clean freak, Baker."
"Sir," he almost whined. Baker stopped short of arguing further and focused on nursing his hand. Elda's eyes were laughing but she didn't comment. She had Crawford and Smith step up to be added to the system. This SGC-controlled shuttle had no idea who they were. It was her vessel on Tek'ron that recognized them.
Elda lightly pushed them away from the console when they were done. She sat down and scrolled through the list of crew, finding that all of SG-1 and now SG-3 were added to the registry. And of course, her birth mother's name was there, too. Elda confirmed that the correct icons were associated with the correct names. Pilots were green. Crew were in blue. Satisfied, she let that screen drop from the HUD.
She stood back up to address their team leader. "What now, Colonel?"
"We should probably go do this on your ship, too," he suggested.
Elda's mouth quirked slightly. She was hoping he'd say that. "Okay, when?"
Reynolds gazed around at his team. "Might as well do it today. We don't know when we'll need it next. I don't care to be caught unprepared again."
They nodded in agreement.
"And maybe while we're there, you give us a primer on those features," he said to Elda, pointing at the co-pilot's console. "I'll bet you could use the help while you're in the middle of complex maneuvers." He thought back to the dizzying way she piloted the ship on their rescue op the night before.
"Joyride, sir?" Crawford said hopefully.
Reynolds looked over at his subordinate with quiet exasperation.
Crawford grinned.
The team arrived on Tek'ron within a few hours. Elda warned them about the cold weather, so they were all clad in standard SGC winter gear. A Hak'tyl guard greeted them with active staff weapons. The marines remained calm, with hands plain at their sides.
"Chel hol, Sisters," Elda called out, appearing from behind the men.
The Hak'tyl relaxed. To her trained eyes, they were smiling broadly at her. But to the human men, their faces barely appeared to move. "EldaMalDoran," the lead guardswoman greeted.
"Idul," she responded warmly. Elda bowed respectfully to all of her sisters. They reciprocated. The bows were just the right depth to reflect everyone's equal rank within the tribe.
"I trust you must venture to your other village?" Idul surmised.
"Indeed. Please send my greetings to our Den Mother."
"We shall. Please send our greetings to your village."
Elda bowed again in agreement.
Idul inclined her head toward the human men, then turned around. The Hak'tyl guard returned to their patrol.
Elda began leading her teammates on a less familiar path. Crawford and Smith recognized it as the one that would bring them to the other Jaffa settlement on this planet.
"Is that how things usually go?" Baker asked curiously.
She guessed he meant the formalities of Jaffa greetings. "Yeah, pretty much."
"What did she mean by 'your' village, Elda?" Reynolds wondered. "I thought you were with the Hak'tyl."
Elda breathed in. "I was sent to live in the other village." She grimaced, wondering how much to say. At first, the real reasons behind her move were secretive. But now? She suspected all of the Jaffa had figured out why she switched homes. They were smart enough to. It was obvious to everyone on this planet that they were following Jasuf and Elda's example with the joint training model. From what she could tell, it was going well. Their manipulation job had been successful.
She caught her teammates' glances as they continued to walk casually through the snow-covered forest. They were clearly expecting an explanation. And it wouldn't be right to lie to them. "While you guys were out on that long op, I was here. Jasuf and I became sparring partners. Leadership approved of it. Thought it made us both better. So they decided to expand our example to the rest of the warriors," she explained succinctly.
"Whoa," Smith intoned.
"Cool," Crawford said, impressed.
"But why make you switch villages?" Baker asked.
"Eh… I was meant to be a sort of ambassador. Prove that the Hak'tyl were worthy of the male warriors' time. Then when the moment was right, the new training model was announced." She rolled her eyes. "I was basically tasked with a charm offensive in order to make sure the people would accept the changes," she said with complaint.
Reynolds grinned. "Your specialty."
"What?"
"That's your superpower, Elda," Baker affirmed. "Distracting charm."
Crawford leaned in and brushed shoulders with her. "Told ya you're sweet," he teased.
Elda pushed him away in disgust. Smith laughed in the background.
She was about to protest more when she caught sight of a Jaffa patrol. The guardsmen approached with weapons at ease, having seen her in the lead. They paused before them and bowed.
The largest one seemed to regard her with extra deference. "Lady Elda, you have returned," his deep voice boomed.
Elda bowed. "Lo'zim, my dear giant. How do you fare?"
"I am well, My Lady. The Tribe Father and Jasuf are hosting an audience at this time in the governance hut," he reported.
"Thank you, Lo'zim. My team and I will proceed to my shuttle. We are here to use it."
"I will send word of your presence." He flicked two fingers in the air and a guardsman split off toward the village.
Elda smiled at him and laid an affectionate hand on his large forearm as she passed. She made sure to incline her head toward the other guardsmen as well. They respectfully allowed her to pass before moving on themselves.
"Okay, I gotta know," Crawford said. "Why do they call you that?"
"Ugh. It's a pet name."
Smith chuckled quietly. "They're just like marines."
"Charm offensive really worked," Reynolds marveled. Elda looked up at him. "Those Jaffa like you."
"I regretted it the minute they gave me a title," she grumbled.
Her teammates laughed.
Within another few minutes they found her shuttle parked near the Jaffa residences. It gleamed brightly in the midday sun. The hatch opened automatically when the ship sensed the presence of its pilot. Elda led them in. "Oh, by the way, Colonel Carter and I talked it over. For the moment, she's going to refer to the SGC shuttle as Puddle Jumper 1. I'll call my ship Firefly."
"Firefly?" Reynolds repeated. "How'd you come up with that?"
Elda quirked a smile. "Saw them for the first time the other day. Thought they were cool." The men shrugged, not really minding it. The way she had crazily flown the ship in the upper atmosphere of a planet last night, the ship probably lit up like a firefly anyway. It was sort of appropriate. "Alright, who's first?" she asked as she powered up the co-pilot's station.
"Me," Baker immediately volunteered. Reynolds looked at him with annoyance, figuring he didn't want to risk any more exposure to someone else's blood. The other marines sniggered. Baker and Reynolds were finally added as crew to this particular ship.
Elda brought up some of the menus to point out what functions regular crewman would be able to control. Smith took a seat and played around with the weapons array. Elda made sure to put the system in training mode so that he wouldn't actually fire off any warheads. The HUD produced images of fake targets for Smith to practice shooting at. She sensed that he was having a little too much fun by the enthusiastic grin he wore the entire time.
Eventually everyone else took their turn.
Things rotated back to Smith soon enough. "Pow! Pow!" he quietly yelled as he shot fake targets with the ship's energy weapon.
"Oh my God, Smith. It's like you're playing video games," Baker complained.
"Sir, this is training. Very necessary skill for when we're out in the field," he argued distractedly.
Crawford and Elda shared a look of laughter.
"That's the biggest load of bull…" Reynolds started.
"Lady Elda," someone called from the open hatch.
Everyone turned to the door. A Jaffa minder poked his head in and bowed it respectfully. "You are summoned by the Tribe Father."
Elda inclined her head to him. "Thank you." She made eye contact with Reynolds. "Want to meet the leader of the village?"
"Sure. Why not?"
SG-3 ventured over to the governance hut, where Meil'nor was waiting. Elda bowed upon entry then stepped aside for her team to enter. "Master Meil'nor," she presented, "SG-3 of the Tau'ri." She took the time to name each of them individually.
Jasuf's father inclined his head to them. He addressed Colonel Reynolds directly while they all remained standing. Their boots dripped snow all over the floor. A minder would need to come in and clean that up after they left. "I am pleased to see that you are faring well. I understand you were placed in grave danger recently."
Reynolds's eyes widened slightly. "Why, thank you." He glanced at Elda, surprised that she had supplied such a detail to her boyfriend's dad. She smiled and shrugged.
"Perhaps you would care to share a meal with us."
Reynolds didn't answer immediately.
Elda sensed her commanding officer's hesitation. She knew this wasn't part of today's agenda. She caught Meil'nor's gaze. He inclined his head to her, allowing her to speak. "May I suggest instead we show them our new training grounds, Master Meil'nor? Then we will depart with my vessel to continue our own training."
"A fine suggestion, Kal'ma," he agreed. "You may proceed." He reached into his robes and produced an access bracelet. She bowed her head as she received it with two hands. It was a small device with buttons that resembled the control panel of a ring platform. Only these buttons were more compact and housed inside of a strap. "Keep it. I have another."
Elda looked up in surprise. "As you say, Master Meil'nor," she affirmed. "I also send greetings on behalf of the Hak'tyl."
He bowed his head gracefully in acceptance. "Krelnok, dear Kal'ma. Continue your good works." He gestured for the door, giving them permission to leave. SG-3 filed out.
Elda gazed down at the new bracelet outside.
Baker pointed at it. "I've seen that before."
"Yes, it's a portable access device for rings," Elda confirmed. She found herself bewildered. She wasn't expecting Meil'nor to give her permanent access to the ring platform. She thought she'd receive an instruction to return this device instead. She wasn't even planning to go up to the Ha'tak vessel. Elda just came up with an excuse to get out of sitting for a meal that she knew her CO didn't want to have.
She led them back into the shuttle. She locked eyes with Reynolds. "We don't actually have to go to the training grounds," she clarified.
"Thinkin' on your feet, huh?"
She shrugged.
"What kind of training grounds need rings to get to?" Baker asked curiously.
"The sort that are on a Ha'tak vessel," Elda replied easily.
Smith's mouth opened. He shared a wide-eyed look with Crawford. "You got the keys to a Goa'uld mothership?" he asked incredulously.
"Daddy likes you," Crawford commented with a sly smile.
"What? No, these just control the rings that could get us there."
Reynolds seemed just as surprised. "This planet has a Ha'tak?"
Elda looked at him like he should know better. But then she remembered, he was offworld when everything happened here. And he barely knew that her father had been kidnapped. He must not have heard the full report. "No one told you anything, huh?"
"You can tell me right now," Reynolds said. He crossed his arms, waiting.
Elda glanced at the other marines, who seemed to be willing to hear the story. "General O'Neill got kidnapped with Jasuf. They were taken aboard a Ha'tak vessel. They escaped and took it over. And now the ship is here."
Reynolds waved a hand in the air. "Why didn't the SGC keep it?"
Elda's mouth dropped open. "Uhhh, well, from what I understand General O'Neill decided to let Tek'ron have it. And in exchange Earth now has another source of naquedah." She had gotten very close to blowing her cover just now. On the surface, it didn't make any sense for the SGC not to keep a Ha'tak, given the chance. But these men didn't know that Jack was her father. Nor would they understand that he was so impressed with his daughter's boyfriend that he felt his people deserved a free Ha'tak. She chided herself for forgetting that her team didn't know her true origins.
Elda was getting too comfortable with them. She would have to remind herself regularly to watch what she said.
Her CO eyed her.
She kept her face as expressionless as possible. She very much hoped he didn't ask questions about why her father and Jasuf were within each other's vicinities at all. Elda cursed herself internally. She used to lie better than that.
Baker coughed. "Sir… I've never seen training grounds on a Goa'uld mothership before." He sounded eager.
Crawford and Smith shared a look. They tentatively raised their hands to express their interest as well. "Neither have we," Crawford said, eyes wide with hope.
Reynolds raised a brow at them, now distracted away from whatever suspicion he had just had about Elda. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Fine. We'll go check 'em out." He said it like a father acquiescing to childish requests. Elda quietly thanked her teammates for acting like kids. She refrained from letting out a breath of relief.
Before they went to the rings, she briefly flew the shuttle to the same clearing as the stargate and set it down. The vessel was oriented so that the hatch would open toward the gate, but not so close that it would be in the way of anyone using it. Next time, they could hustle over to Tek'ron to find the ship waiting for them off to the side. This would shave off valuable minutes for operations.
When the hatch opened again, Jasuf was waiting outside. He must have been escorting the village's visitors back to the gate. He inclined his head respectfully toward the men as they disembarked. "SG-3," he greeted.
"Hey man!" Crawford said with gusto. He approached with familiarity and grasped arms with him. The marine leaned in. "I've been meaning to tell you 'thank you' for all the stuff you loaded the shuttle up with before we ran off to the space station. Came in real handy."
Smith stepped up and grasped forearms with Jasuf as well. "Yeah, man. The money, the food." He pointed a thumb back toward Elda, who was watching them with interest. "The moves? All really helpful. Thanks."
Jasuf glanced at Elda with amusement. "You are welcome."
Smith then said, "Sorry we stole your girlfriend for a couple weeks." He grabbed Elda's arm and pushed her in Jasuf's direction. "Here. You can have her back."
"Smitty!" She smacked his arm.
Reynolds looked up at the sky in exasperation. Baker shook his head at their antics.
Jasuf began to laugh. "I appreciate that, CorporalSmith." He leaned down to drop a chaste kiss on Elda's lips in greeting. She accepted it then turned back to her idiot brothers to give them a very dramatic eye-roll. Elda huffed for good measure. Jasuf now asked, "Tell me, what are your plans for this day?"
"Elda was about to show us the training grounds," Baker replied. "Your dad gave her that." He pointed at the bracelet wrapped around her wrist.
"Then let us go," Jasuf said without hesitation.
"Where's Elda?" Cameron asked of Vala in the corridor.
"She's on Tek'ron."
His eyes bugged out. "Again!?"
Vala rolled her eyes. "She's with SG-3." She flicked his ear. He swatted her hand away. "Would you relax? Leave the poor girl alone," she chided with annoyance.
"When she gets back, let me know."
"Why, so you can bother her again?"
"No," Cam said, giving her a look, "So I can tell her that SG-12 leader wants to say hello."
"What? Why?"
"Because she flew their asses out of the fire last night and he wants to thank her."
Vala blinked and smiled. "Really?" She adopted a proud look. "How'd she do that?"
"To be honest? I don't have a clue. Sounded like some sort of crazy kamikaze-type thing. Maybe we can ask her to show us together in a simulation or something. Might learn a thing or two."
"The student becomes the teacher," Vala marveled.
"Apparently."
Cameron turned to go, but Vala stopped him with a hand on his bicep. "Darling."
He turned back to her.
"She's a good girl. Just trust her."
He grimaced. "Vala, she's young," he said with seriousness. "I'm afraid she doesn't know what she's really doing sometimes." He received a dubious look in return. "Look, I know she's capable. And talented. No one's denying her that. But how much experience does she really have in the whole relationship department?" Vala couldn't answer that one. "I don't want to see her getting hurt or worse."
"Jasuf is a good Jaffa," his friend tried to argue.
"I get that," Mitchell conceded. "Everybody likes the guy. Okay, okay. But what if something happens, huh? Is our dear little sister, daughter, niece, whatever going to be able to handle it?" Vala frowned. "It would be worse if there was a little kid thrown into the mix down the line."
The raven-haired woman huffed. She pushed him a little. Vala lowered her voice so no one else would really hear. "Cameron, they won't have a child together. Their DNA isn't even compatible and besides, she's on birth control."
He considered her words for a long moment, pursing his lips. Then he dropped his shoulders in defeat. "Alright." He held up two hands. "I'll back off."
Vala swept her hand along his cheek affectionately. "Good. Now, tell me how things are going with Carolyn."
Mitchell tilted his head. "Don't you already get all the details directly from her?"
"I want your side of the story, Darling." She flashed him a smile.
He dropped his head to his chest. When he looked back up, she was still waiting. He sighed. "What do you wanna know?"
Vala grinned. "What are your plans?"
"Plans? What plans?"
"Are you ever going to pop the question?" she asked him very directly.
Cameron's eyes widened. He twisted her around and pushed her against the wall. He leaned in so only she would hear his lowered voice. "Why?" he ground out.
Vala kept grinning. She didn't mind at all that he had just manhandled her. It was reminiscent of the times they used to flirt with each other. "Because."
"What did you hear?"
"Absolutely nothing. That's why I'm asking."
He stared into her eyes, searching for a hidden agenda. There was always one with her. She only continued to smile back at him playfully. "Vala, I have no plans," he said evenly.
She pouted. "Too bad."
The Colonel's eye twitched. "Why?"
"Because Carolyn Mitchell would have a nice ring to it," she said encouragingly.
He groaned. "Anything I say is going to end up repeated. Loudly. I'm not saying a damn thing to you."
Vala only smiled wider. He had just told her everything. She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Bye, Darling." She extricated herself from his little prison against the wall and left him. He stared after her in disbelief, realizing that he just lost to the space pirate. Again.
"Oh good, you're here," Daniel said distractedly as Vala walked into his office. His work table was littered with old tomes, several of which were open. He was leaning down to examine one in detail.
She gazed at the table without enthusiasm. She pointed a well-manicured index finger at the mess. "What. Is all this?"
Daniel glanced up briefly. "Backlog," he said simply.
Vala groaned. "What's the objective," she said flatly. She slumped into one of the stools before the desk.
"For me? Cross-reference these texts to confirm that I'm translating this historical artifact correctly," he reported, while pointing at an old stone object on a nearby cart. It was covered in writing. "For you? Plan Gracie's birthday party."
Vala straightened up in her seat. "Oooh." She clapped her hands now in delight. "Venue?"
"Our house."
"Date and time?"
"Talk to Sam."
"Menu?"
"You choose. But Jack will demand cake."
"It's Jack. Of course he will."
"Right." Daniel's eyes remained glued to the text in front of him. He wrote something onto the notepad in his hand.
"Guest list?"
"Uhh…" he said, still adding things to his notes. "The family: Gracies – plural, their parents, SG-1, Hank, and Carolyn. Up to Sam if she wants anyone else there."
Vala rubbed her hands together, eyes now darting about as she began thinking. "Now this is an assignment I can do. With pleasure."
"I know."
She sidled up to him and placed her arms around his waist, careful not to trap his arms so he could still write on his notepad. He would get annoyed with her if she did that. Daniel kept going, hardly minding her physical affection. He could care less that they were on camera, either. The base was already over the fact that they were a couple. They were old news by now.
Elda was the one making headlines these days by dating a Jaffa. And her marine friends were proudly announcing that the fellow was a prince at that. It only quirked the base's interest more. Especially since they all assumed she was having a side fling with one or both of her marines. It was certainly not the most desirable thing to have attention for.
"You know, I was thinking," Vala announced.
"Uh oh."
Vala ignored his dig. "Maybe we should get a bigger house."
He paused and looked at her. "You don't think ours is big enough for the party?" His gaze drifted away in thought. "I guess we could find a little hall or something. A bit last minute to book, but…"
"No, no." She smiled at him. "I was thinking more like later. But not too much later."
Daniel sensed an ulterior motive afoot. He gently placed his notepad and pencil down onto the table. Then he turned to her fully and wrapped his arms around her waist. They leaned back onto the desk together. "Why?" he asked simply.
Her mouth quirked. Her eyes stared back with love in them.
"Vala." His eyes bore into hers, demanding that she give him the full and honest truth. No hints. No bits and pieces for him to put together like a puzzle. Just spit it all out. As if she would ever actually do that.
Her lips pursed together briefly. She leaned up to his ear to whisper. "We might need more space." She gingerly removed one of his hands and placed his palm over her abdomen.
Daniel's eyes widened. He pushed her back a bit with a free hand on her shoulder. His eyes searched hers for the truth.
She seemed to be studying him, gauging his reaction.
His lips parted slightly, mouth curving into a soft smile. He was blinking rapidly now, making sure that this moment was really happening.
Vala grinned. "You're going to get your revenge on Jack sooner rather than later," she said with pride.
Daniel laughed aloud. He brought both his hands up to wrap them around her neck and hair. He kissed her sweetly, pouring extra love into the act. She breathily responded, letting her hands rest on his muscled chest, trapped between their bodies.
He pulled back, but his mouth still hovered near hers. "Are you serious?" he asked quietly.
She reached up to stroke his cheek. "Mmm hmm. Blood test result came back this morning. Carolyn called me almost immediately. Positive." She smiled. "You have just sired a child, Daniel Jackson."
Daniel wouldn't have been able to hold back the grin on his face even if his life depended on it. "We're having a baby," he said, testing the words in his mouth. He never actually thought he'd one day say those words.
"We're having a baby," Vala repeated.
He captured her mouth in another kiss. His mind began swimming with plans. Things they'd have to do. Things they'd have to buy. He needed a better car. Carseat. Crib. Baby clothes. All the gadgets.
Vala sensed his distraction and stopped their kiss. "Let's just worry about now. The present." It was like she could read his mind. "Let the future come as it may."
Daniel pecked her on the lips one more time. "Okay," he agreed. One of his hands reached down to touch her stomach as he smiled at her.
When SG-3 returned to Earth, Landry was waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp. "Colonel," he greeted. "How did everything go?"
"We got everything we wanted done and then some," Reynolds reported. "Crew is registered on both ships. Got some training in on vessel ops. Moved the ship closer to the gate," he went on, listing all of their achieved objectives.
Landry nodded. He quirked a brow, waiting for more.
"And then come to find out Tek'ron has its own Ha'tak?"
The General smiled. "That's right, Colonel. Guess you missed out on that fun incident."
"Yes, sir. Elda gave me the Cliff Notes. But I have questions," he commented, sending a sideways look toward his female subordinate.
She hid her lips as she stared at her uncle. She was otherwise expressionless, but Hank could tell she was asking for back-up.
"Go ahead and access the mission report, Colonel. It's filed by SG-1. What else went on over there?" he asked, trying to redirect their conversation.
"Elda and Jasuf gave us a tour of the training grounds up on the Ha'tak. Pretty impressive seeing all those Jaffa beat each other senseless with sticks."
Elda dropped her head. The rest of the marines grinned.
The General laughed aloud. "I'm sure it was a sight to see, SG-3. Dismissed."
The men began to move along, but Hank raised a hand to stop Elda. "Go find your sister. She's looking for you." The marines looked back at her curiously. The General shot a look toward them to mind their own business. They blinked but complied, walking out without her.
Elda drew closer to Hank. "General?" she asked curiously.
"I think she's waiting for you in the O'Neill family quarters." His eyes were twinkling, as if there was news to share but it wasn't his place to tell it.
Now her curiosity was definitely ignited. She nodded and left the gate room. Elda visited the armory first to deliver her blasters and knives to the person in charge there. She hadn't brought along everything she owned, so the process took no more than a couple of minutes.
She then passed by the infirmary to greet whatever doctor was on duty for post-mission physicals. He simply listened to her describe her activities offworld. When he realized she was only on the friendly planet of Tek'ron with no exposure to enemy combatants, he let her go. By now everyone understood Tek'ron was Elda's second home. There was no need for her to be examined every time she came back from there. The doctor seemed more than happy to have one less patient to examine on his busy day.
With her obligations complete, she finally went to her family's quarters. She slid her personal base access card into the reader. The door clicked to signal it had been unlocked. She opened the door a touch and called in, "Helloooo?"
"Come on in," her birth mother's voice responded.
Elda entered with a smile. She made sure to shut the door immediately. "Hi, Moms," she said to both Sam and Vala at the table. She took a seat with them easily. "What's up?" she said curiously, looking over to Vala.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Why are we here?"
Elda looked between them both, noting Sam was just as in the dark as her. So it would seem her adoptive mother had something to say.
Vala reached out to grasp their hands atop the table. "Daniel and I are pregnant," she announced without further ado.
Sam gasped. "Already!?" She'd only just heard that he was interested in having children. That was a shock in and of itself. Now suddenly, his wish was being fulfilled.
Elda's eyes went wide. She blinked several times as she stared at Vala. Her mother's eyes were quietly waiting for her to say something so she would get a sense of what she thought. Vala wasn't sure how the young blonde would react. Elda swallowed. She breathed in deeply. "Does this mean I will have a little sibling?" she asked with a confused tone. "Or a niece or nephew?"
Sam's eyebrow raised. "Huh. Good question."
Vala's mouth gaped. "Oh. I hadn't thought of that."
Elda pointed at her. "And if Daniel ever married you… would that make him…" Her face dropped. "…my father?" Her face contorted further at the prospect.
Sam drew in a deep breath and wheezed out, laughing. She began to clap her hands as she cracked up, knowing full well that Elda would complain endlessly about that.
Vala's eye twitched as she tried to sort out the messy family tree in her mind. "Umm…" She tilted her head. "Or he'd be your brother-in-law." She waved a hand around. "To the rest of the base."
Elda nodded her head as she thought about that. "Ehhh… okay. But he's already my uncle. How does that even work?"
Sam guffawed. "I think we've gotten off track here. Vala! You're having a baby!?"
She grinned. "Yes! Finally!"
"What do you mean, finally?" Elda questioned. "This was planned?"
Vala opened her mouth then closed it. "Well… it wasn't… I guess… huh, I don't know anymore," she sputtered.
Elda laughed at her mother's confusion. "Well, whatever that is growing inside you, I'm sure it will be cute." She smiled at her. "Congratulations, Mom."
Vala's eyes softened, relieved to have her support. "Thank you, Darling." She didn't realize until now how much she wanted it. She knew there was a point in time when the young blonde did not approve of a relationship between herself and Daniel. But that was more in reference to the alternate versions of themselves that Elda used to know. Those two were gone. The Daniel and Vala here were very different. Elda would even point it out, from time to time.
"So how far along are you?" Sam asked.
"Just barely 7 weeks, if I do the math right." She looked at both of them. "I was feeling a little weird these past couple weeks. Wasn't sure why until I realized I had missed my menses. We've been so distracted with everything that it completely slipped my mind." Vala shook her head.
"Oh Gods, I can't even keep track of all that," Elda commented, sitting back in her seat. "It's too hard."
"I'm sure constantly switching between time zones doesn't help either," Sam agreed, referring to how Elda was splitting her days between Earth and Tek'ron. On top of that, she had just been through a time dilation incident on a space station. That would throw anyone off.
"Exactly. So what happens now? How does it all work?" Elda asked.
Sam answered, "Usually, one starts seeing a doctor once a month. I'll bet you're already on the schedule?" Vala nodded. "Then the visits increase in frequency until you're being checked once a week before delivery. There's some testing that happens along the way. Ultrasounds. Urine samples. There's this nasty drink they make you take somewhere in the middle."
"What? Why?" Elda asked.
"I think it's to check if your blood sugars are right. Or something. I dunno. It was a one-time thing. I was fine when I was pregnant with you," Sam reported, flicking a hand in the air dismissively.
Elda nodded. Her birth mother's explanation was quite fascinating. She had never considered how Earth might approach pregnancy before. Anyone she ever knew that fell pregnant usually tried to go home to their villages and just deliver there. If there was a midwife available… great. If not? Well, the woman was on her own. Not all of those infants survived, either. It was enough for Elda to decide she was not ready for that sort of stress. Maybe never.
"I have to start seeing the other doctor team now," Vala stated. "Carolyn won't be the one in charge for this."
"See if you can get in with Dr. Cho more often than not. She's supposed to be really good."
Vala nodded enthusiastically.
"Who's that?"
"One of the OB/GYNs. Women's health specialty," Sam explained. "Carolyn could probably explain that better than me."
Elda now had a thought. She addressed Vala, "If you're with child, what will that mean for SG-1?"
She grit her teeth. "I have no idea." Her eyes wandered as she tried to imagine how things were going to change.
"Something to discuss with Cam," Sam said, shrugging.
"Yeah." Vala waved a hand. "Oh, let's not think about that right now. It's too much."
Her friend and adoptive daughter nodded. They smiled with her. Then they all started brainstorming baby names.
"Daniel."
"Jack."
"I heard you have news."
"I'm sure you already know what that news is."
"Why don't you tell it to me anyway."
"Jack, we're having a baby."
"Congrats, buddy. Look at you, joining the club."
"Yeah. Thanks."
"How 'bout that. A little alien hybrid baby on the way."
Daniel's eye twitched. "The baby will be human, Jack," he said flatly, belying his annoyance.
"Vala's still an alien, Daniel."
"She's lived on Earth for years now. I hardly consider her an alien."
"True. But does she have a green card?"
"No."
"Still an alien."
"Jack," Daniel complained.
His friend just laughed at him over the line. "You could probably use a bigger house," he pointed out now.
"Vala already suggested that." He sighed, not looking forward to house-shopping. It was work.
"You'll be fine, Dannyboy."
"Oh and Jack…"
"Yeah?"
"What are you doing in nine months?"
"I dunno. Why?"
"I'm gonna need a babysitter."
"Then hire one."
"Sure. Sure. I hear overqualified Generals make the best kind."
"You're living in a fantasy world, Daniel," Jack warned.
"And my future child's mother took care of your kid for 17 years. You owe her."
"Shit."