Disclaimer - MGM/Gekko/Double Secret own them.
Next in the 'Remedied' series, following a while after His Dad's Son. Feedback would be appreciated :)
*
She was pretty sure this wasn't the way things were supposed to be.
The guys were being fantastic. A little *too* fantastic.
Teal'c kept offering Jaffa parenting tips; things that he'd learnt while raising Ryac, or what his father had taught him before he was killed. The problem was, Sam wasn't a Jaffa, and her child wasn't going to be one either.
Jonas kept grinning all the time, which - admittedly - wasn't a huge surprise, but whenever he was with her now (in the commissary, sometimes dropping by her lab) he literally didn't stop. He kept asking about every feeling, the way her body was changing, if she was going to have more children in the future...and then there was that damn phrase he kept saying. Apparently it was tradition on Kelowna to say it whenever you left the presence of a pregnant woman, as some kind of blessing.
It was driving her mad.
General Hammond had initially seemed his normal, sane, usual self...and then earlier today, as she handed in her latest update, he clasped his hands together on his desk and launched into the story of what happened when his wife fell pregnant, and how he subsequently felt about it.
It was touching. Deeply, deeply touching. It was very rare for the General to open up about his personal life, especially anything relating to his wife.
That didn't stop Sam from grinding her teeth together and rolling her eyes.
She was at lunch in the commissary now, half-heartedly poking at a dish of jello (they didn't even have blue - what was the world *coming* to?) and staring at a mug of coffee she wasn't allowed to drink. Though she enjoyed coffee she'd never been addicted, but the fact that she couldn't have it now made it seem all the more appealing.
"Major Carter,"
Wonderful. Member One of the Baby Brigade was here. "Hey Teal'c."
Placing his tray of food on the table, he lowered his sturdy frame into the chair opposite hers. "Are you well? You seem distracted."
And now the interrogation. "Fine. I'm fine. Just thoughtful."
Apparently placated, he chomped with Jaffa-like precision on his selection of fruit. A few moments later he spoke, and it turned out he wasn't placated at *all*. "When Drey'auc was pregnant with Ryac..."
Sam almost thumped her head down on the table. Just *once*, could they not talk about pregnancy? She was beginning to feel like she was nothing more than the 'thing' the baby was going to come out of.
"Hey guys,"
Just for a split second Sam was relieved that Jonas had interrupted, before she remembered the terrible truth: Member One of the Baby Brigade was now joined by Member Two. "Jonas."
"Jonas Quinn,"
Before either one of them could mention babies, pregnancy, or placentas again, Sam began talking. "So how is Major Jenkins working out as a leader?"
"Good," Jonas smiled, sipping from his mug of coffee, unknowing of the wrath he risked unleashing via his flagrant caffeine consumption. "Not quite as diplomatic as you, but much more diplomatic than Colonel O'Neill ever was."
Jack. Seeing Jack was very good idea. Doing Jack was an even better one. She wondered if there was any way she could sneak him onto the base with no one noticing...
And then Jonas said it. His 'cute' way of saying it. "How's the bump today, Sam?"
She snapped. Dropping her fork to the table, she stood up, planted her hands on the table and glared at him - both of them. "*I'm* just *fine*, thank you!"
Leaving two very confused aliens behind, she stomped towards the exit. Just before reaching freedom, she heard it:
"Protection from fate."
Argh!
*
The stomping continued all the way - and into - her lab. She was angry, horny, frustrated, and there was only one thing she could think of at that point that would help at all.
Grabbing the phone from the wall, she immediately began dialling Jack's cell number, mentally calculating at the same time. Her house was definitely closer to the base...
"O'Neill,"
Yes! "Jack,"
She could practically hear the frown.
"Sam?"
"Meet me at my place in fifteen minutes."
"What for?"
"We're having sex."
*
Sixteen minutes and thirty-three seconds later, she screeched to a halt outside her house. Stumbling out of the car, she barely remembered to slam the car door shut. Jogging through her front yard (though irritatingly, not as fast as she used to) and up the steps of her porch, she fumbled inside her purse for the house key.
Eventually locating it she yanked it out, pulled the screen door open, and let herself in.
"Jack?"
No signs of life. Nothing switched on, no one waiting inside for her. "Jack!" She raced towards the bedroom, leaving the front door open. "Jack?" He wasn't there yet. Why wasn't he there yet? He *should* be there yet.
Glancing at her watch she cursed - they were on a time limit here.
Deciding she should at least do something pro-active with her time, she went into the bathroom and actually freshened up a little. She wasn't particularly bothered about smelling nice at the moment, but she might as well-
Engine. Outside the house. Cutting off.
Bolting out of the bathroom, she ran through the hallway and reached the front door just in time to see him coming up the steps.
He paused as he saw her.
Sam didn't.
Grabbing his wrist she immediately dragged him inside the house (admittedly, he didn't put up much of a struggle). Damn, he looked good. Jeans, black shirt, leather jacket.
Perfect. Just *perfect*.
"Sam, what are you-?"
"Shhhh," She warned, closing the door with her free hand and then pushing him up against it, her mouth rapidly finding his. By now she knew exactly what to do and where to touch, and soon he was gasping against her mouth.
"God, *Sam*."
He'd barely touched her but already the arousal was humming through her body. He *really* needed to do that more often... "Say that again,"
"Sam..."
Oh, *definitely*.
His hands glided gently over her body, and while it was very nice and felt wonderful, it wasn't quite what she... "Jack." Grabbing either side of his face, forcing him to meet her gaze, filling the silence with breathing. Licking her lips, she spoke carefully. "I don't want you to make love to me."
He understood.
His fingers dug into her skin, his mouth moving to all but devour hers.
Oh yeah. *He understood*.
*
Sam had to admit, she felt vaguely embarrassed. They'd had sex a lot of times and in several different places, but that was by *far* the most aggressive she'd ever been.
Not that he was complaining. Not that either of them were, spread out across the bed, his head resting on her chest; left arm slung across her body.
So yeah, there may have been some vague embarrassment, but it in no way detracted from how extremely, *extremely* satisfied she was feeling right now, slowly running her left hand through his hair.
"So," He breathed against her skin, kissing softly. "Not that I didn't enjoy myself," Her lips quirked at his typical Jack-ness. "But what the hell was that about?"
Another typical Jack-ness. Her hand faltered, resting on top of his head. "I..." She wasn't sure where to start.
Moving his head until it was his chin resting against her chest, he smiled. "Come on; the woman who ten minutes ago asked me to do *that* cannot be too embarrassed to say anything."
Great - now she was blushing. And he was enjoying it too, the bastard. "I, uh..." Her eyes focused on the ceiling, her hand moving through his hair again. "I'm sick of being the pregnant woman." She continued quickly, worried he might misinterpret what she was saying. "I don't want to give up our baby; not for a second. But...every time I see one of the guys at work it's always 'baby' this and 'baby' that. You know, there's more to me than the life growing inside."
His head lowered briefly, kissing her chest. "I know."
"I just wanted to feel..."
"Not like a mom?"
God, that was selfish of her. Pathetically, she felt tears starting to build up. "I knew, I knew that when the baby came it was going to completely take over everything. Which is right, as it should be. I mean, it's a new *life*. A life we created together. Nothing's more important than that. But it's started happening already! I'm not Sam Carter anymore. I'm the woman with the baby. God," She snorted, rubbing at the tears on her face with her free hand. "I hate feeling like this. Are your hormones supposed to be this screwed up already?" In her opinion, she wasn't even that far along. But then in her opinion, far along was eight months and twenty-nine days.
He kissed her skin again. "I'm gonna go with the theory that not every pregnancy is the same, so I really can't say. However, I can tell you that Sara didn't really get any mood swings...or not that I noticed, anyway."
Just what she wanted to hear. "Okay sweetheart? As much as I love you, you really *don't* want to be comparing me to your ex-wife right now."
Jack chuckled against her body. "I'm not comparing you. But even if I were, you'd win hands down."
"I would?" Good *God*, she sounded needy, as if she really couldn't get by without that kind of validation. Desperation 1, Feminism 0.
"Sure," He replied. "I'm finding this pregnancy far more entertaining."
The hand that'd been rubbing his hair slapped the side of his head. "You're not funny." She was grinning, though.
"If you say so." He clearly didn't buy it.
"And I have to go," She sighed. "I'm gonna be late back as it is."
"Actually," He cleared his throat. "You don't have to be back at all."
Sam frowned, surprised. "What did you do?"
Her chest must have been fascinating by the way he was staring at it - but that wasn't really news. "I *may* have called Hammond, and asked for a favour. Believe it or not, he still holds me in high regard for some unfathomable reason."
"Why? I mean, why'd you call him?" She swore to God, if he was treating her differently just because she was pregnant...
"Entirely selfishly reasons I'm afraid," Jack admitted, scooting up the bed, forcing Sam to move her hand until he was lying facing her. "Strangely enough, after receiving your phone call I really didn't feel like doing anything else for the rest of the day."
Grinning, she kissed him once, slowly. "Hmm, I wonder why that is?"
"Can't imagine," He kissed back, before pulling away. "You know I'm always gonna be here, right? For when you wanna feel not like a mom?"
Touched, she smiled deeply. "What about when you wanna feel not like a dad?"
"Turnabout is fair play," He mused. "But before we both start not feeling like parents, can I just ask for one more dad moment?"
Sighing dramatically, Sam deliberately rolled her eyes. "If you absolutely *insist*."
"I do," He replied, immediately inching back down the bed, until he was face to stomach with what was by now a noticeable bump. He liked doing this, every now and then, regaling her stomach with stories of his day, or what he thought of their baby's mother (this was usually the point when he'd glance up at her face and grin wickedly).
Today, however, he said something else to say. "Lessons in life number one," He began, addressing her stomach. "There's nothing wrong with not being a parent every once in a while."
Chuckling, Sam closed her eyes and smiled.
~FINIS