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Samantha Carter shifted uncomfortably against the mattress. She was about a week to a week and a half away from her due date, and if she were honest she couldn't wait. The pain and inconvenience of this pregnancy had restricted her to the bed for the last two weeks. She'd only left to use the bathroom.
Of course there were a few perks; Daniel and Teal'c had moved Jack's TV from the living room to the bedroom so that she had something to watch, her laptop had been set up so that she could use it comfortably, and Jack - since he was still pretty much off his feet - made a great built-in back massager. She shifted again, wishing he were awake now. Almost on cue, she felt his one hand grasp her shoulder while the other started at her neck and slowly moved down the path of her spine to knead into the clenching muscles of her lower back.
"Hhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm…" her small moan was all of the encouragement she knew he would need, his fingers became more forceful pushing harder into her lower back and willing the muscles to relax.
She snuggled a little closer to him, opening her eyes only when she felt his lips and tongue on her neck. "Morning," he grumbled, sleepily.
"It's only three, Jack, a bit early to even be morning yet."
He groaned, apparently not having known what time it actually was. His fingers continued to minister to her sore muscles, slowly traveling up and down her spine, accompanied by fleetingly tantalizing kisses. She felt her blood heat in her veins and wash through her, melting the knots into smooth, relaxed muscles.
They lay in silence for a few more minutes as she allowed him to touch her. Finally his movements slowed and then stopped and she took the opportunity to turn over – a long arduous process – to face him.
In the room, lit only by the street lights that filtered in through the not-quite-closed curtains, she could see him looking at her. Caught in his heavy gaze, she felt, more than saw, his hands moving to her stomach, his warm palms resting along her stomach as he gently cradled their child.
"Thank you," she whispered, ducking forward to kiss him in the dark.
He gave a gentle nod, but didn't say anything. He pursed his lips and his eyes flicked down and then back up to her eyes. He smiled. "You're beautiful."
She huffed. "And you're sentimental at three in the morning."
She snuggled into him again, this time resting her head on his arm, deeply inhaling his scent. "When you put it like that, I guess you are." She kissed his neck and closed her eyes, loving the comforting sleepy haze that was coming over her.
Jack shifted, rolling to his back and keeping her comfortably on her side his left arm around her while his right reached over to intertwine with her fingers and lay across his chest. His left hand slowly stroked her back and arm, gently lulling her back into nice twilight state - somewhere between sleeping and being awake.
Sam inhaled deeply and felt herself relax that extra little bit, before the muscles of her stomach clenched and she felt an odd cramping sensation spread across her stomach to her back. "Ugh…" she groaned and shifted again.
"Sam, you okay?" Jack's voice was thick with sleep and she felt bad for waking him again.
"This back and these silly cramps are just driving me nuts." She sighed, shifting in a futile attempt to get comfortable.
"Cramps? Sam, you didn't say anything about cramps. What sort of cramps?" He was sounding slightly more awake.
Before she could answer, a sharp pain clenched her stomach and warmth bled down over her thighs. She blinked, lost for a few moments as something knocked at the back of her mind. She pursed her lips.
"Sam?"
"I think my water just broke."
Jack froze. "Pardon?"
Gingerly, Sam reached down to her thighs and touched them, feeling the wetness leech onto her fingertips. "My water broke."
Jack was up in a flash, throwing back the covers and then cursing a red streak as his bad knee bounced on the edge of the bed. Sam sat up fast.
"Jesus, Jack! Don't do that." She admonished, one hand braced behind her to bear her weight. "Go wake Daniel."
"Damn it," he said for good measure, grabbing his cane – something he despised beyond rationale – and heading out into the hallway. Sam listened to his unhurried progress and then a swift knock followed by some hurried talking.
Some more movement later and Daniel's head was peaking into the darkened bedroom, his voice clogged with sleep. "I should call Janet, right?"
"Yeah, Daniel, call Janet." She said, knowing her smile was leaking into her words.
Carefully, she maneuvered herself over to the edge of the bed, wondering how the hell she was going to manage heaving her heavy body up without someone's help.
"Let me assist you, Major Carter."
Her smile widened as she looked over, "Thanks, Teal'c, that would be great."
He was instantly at her side, his strong hands under her elbows to help her get herself to her feet. "Would you prefer to walk to the truck, or be carried?"
She laughed at this, "I can definitely walk, Teal'c, just a little slower than usual. Please, make sure that Daniel and Jack aren't tripping over each other. I'll meet you in the kitchen."
"I believe it would be most unwise to leave you alone at this critical period. Everyone would prefer it if I were to accompany you the entire way."
Sam closed her eyes, balancing herself against the wall with her left hand while her right swept across her face as she slowly exhaled her frustrated sigh. "Teal'c, I'll be fine. Please, make sure those two don't kill each other before we get there."
Teal'c looked as if he was about to say something but then graced her with a bow and turned, heading toward the kitchen. Most likely headed for the task of trying to disengage Jack's hand from Daniel's arm as each attempted to talk with Janet.
Sam embraced her stomach, feeling the ripples of the receding contraction and taking a deep breath. She didn't really know if she was ready for this. There was only so much that you could read on the subject and as Jack had said many times before, "You can say that fire burns until you're blue in the face, but you'll never understand what a 'burn' is until you stick you're hand in the flame."
Still, she was more than ready to be rid of the backaches and sore feet and bed-rest that she'd been resigned to for the last God-knew how long.
She picked up her suitcase and moved out through the bedroom, following the sounds of a nearly panicked Jack and a slightly hysterical Daniel. Sam shook her head.
She loved them both to death but was more than willing to commit murder if they didn't get their act in gear.
Making her way into the kitchen she put her bag down and grabbed the phone away from both men. "Janet, it's me."
She stood there, nodding a few times, obviously listening to a set of instructions. "Alright, I'll see you in a bit then, Jan."
Hanging up the phone, she rolled her eyes at both men. "Come on, let's get going. Something tells me this baby isn't going to wait around for the two of you to get your act together forever."
"Do you have everything that you need, Sam? Are you sure you're not forgetting anything?" Daniel anxiously asked.
"If I have, Daniel, then we obviously didn't do a very good job with the checklist and then someone will have to get it for me later." She replied as she headed toward the door, Teal'c picking up her bag and silently following.
"How do you feel, Sam? Are you in any pain? How far apart are your contractions? Do you think we'll make it to the SGC?"
She stopped, allowing Teal'c and, after a hesitant moment, Daniel to pass her and head to the car. "Jack, relax. You've been through this before, remember? You're supposed to be the voice of reason. I'm fine. Let's go. If anything changes I'll let you know as soon as I do, okay?"
She made it to the truck and five minutes from the driveway before the next contraction hit. She groaned in uncontained pain.
Jack nearly swerved off of the road.
"Damn it, Jack! I told you I should have driven!"
Jack had the grace to look suitably chastised, but turned a glare onto Daniel. "You drive like an old woman, Daniel. She'd be having the baby in the back of the truck."
Sam watched the exchange with barely contained amusement. She trusted Jack with her life, but he wasn't himself at the moment and she hoped that they would make it to the mountain before another one of the spasms hit. Teal'c was the only one within sight that was even remotely sane at the prospect of her finally having this child.
Good God, she was having a child.
*Jack's* child.
She'd known that for the last nine months, but something about the fact that it was finally going to make it's appearance.
Her eyesight blurred with tears.
Sam closed her eyes forcefully and raised a hand to wipe at the stray tear that ran down her cheek.
"Sam? You okay? Are you in pain?" Jack's right hand left the steering wheel to reach over and grip her left one.
She took his hand, entangling their fingers. "I'm fine, Jack. It's just a little overwhelming and I can't believe this is actually happening."
"Heh," a huge smile broke out across his face, "You're telling me."
The entrance gate to Cheyenne Mountain was just coming into sight when another contraction gripped Sam. She gritted her teeth together and clamped her right hand into a tight fist, feeling her nails digging into the tender flesh of her palm, to avoid crushing Jack's hand.
As the contraction continued to ripple through her muscles she lost the fragile hold she had on it. Leaning forward she closed her eyes and gripped with all her might, both feeling and hearing Jack's surprise. The urge to push was almost too strong for her.
Should this be happening?
Wasn't this fast?
Didn't labor last for hours?
The car careened off the road, with Jack just barely managing to not slam on the brakes as he avoided crashing into the guard house.
"Jesus, Jack!" Daniel said, throwing his arms out in front of him to brace himself.
"Fuck it, Daniel, I think she broke my finger." He groused, finally stopping to register with the guard.
Sam tried not to laugh but didn't succeed, her huff of amusement keening out into a moan of discomfort, which caught the guard's attention.
"Colonel, Major…" he said in a little bit of awe, and then he blinked and waved them through.
Sam blinked hard and looked over to see Jack worriedly looking back at her in moments he could spare his eyes from the road. She swallowed and eased into her breathing, suddenly feeling like another clenching wave was going to embrace her.
"Jack?" She asked, knowing that she was going to have to hold onto something, but not wanting to break anymore bones.
"Another one? That fast?" His voice was laced with worry and distress. "Eager little guy," he murmured, finally parking the car and immediately turning to face her more on and taking a hold of her hand. "It's alright," he soothed.
Sam managed a weak smile in response. "Jack, just get me inside. I'm really not feeling well."
She could feel the cool, clammy sensation of the sheen of sweat that had broken out across her skin. Her right hand covering her mouth as the contraction took its full hold and a wave of nausea almost overwhelmed her.
God, the books never described anything like this…
Teal'c opened the car door and practically lifted her out, placing her into the awaiting wheelchair.
Janet threw out a slew of orders and multiple nurses and other supporting staff came rushing over. Sam suddenly felt very claustrophobic and just wanted everyone to go away, everyone except for Janet and Jack and her other doctor.
"I already beeped Doctor Clark, Sam, she's on her way. She should be here in about five minutes." Janet threw a stray look in Jack's direction. "That is, unless, of course, she's driving like Jack. Then she should be here sooner."
Sam smiled. "I'm not quite sure this baby wants to wait that long. The contractions have been pretty close, and I'm really not feeling that great. I think someone might want to take a quick look at Jack's hand too, I kind of gripped it pretty hard right before we got here."
Janet smiled and Sam was pretty sure she heard a snicker. "Don't worry about the Colonel, Sam, I'm sure that will be the last thing on his mind for the next little while."
Jack walked over to them and his hand rested on Sam's shoulder as the two of them, Janet and two of the nurses crowded into the first elevator.
Half way down the mountain, another contraction gripped her and she grimaced, bracing herself against the chair. Jack's grip was light and reassuring as he knelt down awkwardly next to her and looked her in the eye. She caught his gaze, the pain filtering her sight with a grey haze, but not eliminating the love and support that radiated off of him.
She was lost for the rest of the time it took to get to the infirmary, distracted by Jack and the words that Janet was trying to get her to understand.
"Sam?" Janet stepped into her line of vision. "Sam?"
"Hmmmmm?" She asked, trying hard to concentrate on her words.
"Doctor Clark's in the mountain. She'll be down here in a few moments." Janet stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder, leaning in to her friend. "You just need to hold on for a bit more, alright?"
The urge to push was incredible and she hadn't thought that her delivery was going to happen so swiftly. She'd imagined hours of contractions, slowly gaining on her and then exhaustion, pain and uncertainty.
It was all progressing so fast.
Too fast.
She felt like she was losing her grip. People were rushing and moving all around her and she'd hardly had a chance to let it sink in that this was actually happening.
She was having a baby.
She was having Jack's baby.
Jack and Janet were talking to her. Janet was explaining a few things, something about needing to move her. Jack was talking in a soothing, comforting voice. She had no idea what either of them were saying, she found it too difficult to concentrate on anything concrete, but she basked in the warmth, love and friendship that radiated off of both of them.
She felt them lifting her onto the bed, saw Jack backing away, moving away from her.
"Jack…" her hand reached for his weakly, the strain and contractions draining her energy.
"It's okay, Sam. He's just getting a gown on, he'll be back soon. I promise." Janet took her hand, squeezing gently. "Doctor Clark will be in any moment, she's getting scrubbed in now."
Though relieved to know that he was coming back, something felt bereft of his presence and she lapsed into the bed, her arm falling heavily beside her. Her eyes danced listlessly about the now busy infirmary, trying to understand what it was that some of the other nurses were doing, though not caring too much.
And then Jack was back at her side, his hand quickly bandaged, but firm and flexible in her hand. She looked from his hand up to his eyes and grinned self-consciously.
"Sorry."
"Shhh." He hushed her, reached down and brushing some sweat soaked locks from her face and tucking them gently behind her ears. "It's alright. Don't worry about it. You concentrate on our kid, Sam." He leaned down and kissed her forehead, then rest his cheek there.
Sam closed her eyes and absorbed him, her waning energy gaining a mental lift with his support and words.
Then four other forms moved through the doorway and Sam came face to face with her father.
"Dad…" she smiled weakly, feeling Jack gently squeeze her hand in support as he returned to a standing position.
"Hey there, Sammie, how are you doing?"
"Alright, it's all happening so fast. I just never expected this."
Jacob walked up to the head of the bed, nodding a greeting to Jack. He took Sam's other hand in his and leaned over to kiss her forehead lovingly. "You're doing fine, and you look beautiful."
"Oh, please…" she huffed, and turned to look at Jack when she noticed her two doctors conversing.
Doctor Clark looked up at her from the foot of the bed, "How are you doing, Sam?"
"Alright, I think. Honestly, this is all progressing much faster than I ever expected." As she finished her sentence another contraction shook her and she briefly noticed Jack wincing, his eyes tearing slightly as she gripped at his hand.
After examining Sam, Doctor Clark looked up. "I have some good news for you, it looks like this baby is ready to make its appearance. On the next contraction I want you to push, Sam, and push hard. Do you think you can do that?"
Almost relieved to hear the instruction, Sam relaxed under the gaze of her father and Jack.
"It's going to hurt?" she asked in a small voice.
Doctor Clark smiled reassuringly and placed a comforting hand on her foot, trying to soothe her tired nerves.
"It's going to hurt, Sam, but it's only going to hurt for a little while. We all need you to push, alright?"
Again nodding, Sam braced herself as she felt the tightening of her muscles, felt the impending pain and knew that through it all, she would have to concentrate on pushing their child out of her.
God, it sounded so simple.
And it hurt like hell.
"Push, Sam," Jack urged her, his voice near and hot on her ear. "You need to push, Sam."
"What do you think I'm doing, Jack!?" she hissed, her energy sucked out of her.
Her eyes closed and she fell back against the bed as the contraction slowly ebbed away. She never thought she'd felt so drained in her life - so tired. Her breathing was heavy, her muscles feeling like she'd just run ten miles, but she knew it wasn't over.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and smiled weakly at Jack. She hadn't meant to snap at him, but come on, how clichéd could you be? He couldn't think of anything better to say? Hadn't he been through this before?
An apology would have taken far too much effort and been totally pointless, she was sure she was bound to snap again if he came out with something equally as dumb on the next contraction.
The feel of a cool cloth against her forehead brought her attention to her father. He stood beside her, looking rather amused while he dabbed at her hairline. "You're doing great, Sammie. Just keep it up."
"Gee, thanks, Dad. Actually, I was thinking I might call it quits for now. You know, go home and watch the game or something."
The sound of Jack snorting was the only thing that Sam thought would ever remove the shocked look off of her father's face.
"You've been hanging around *him* too long, Sam." Her father said, shooting Jack a look.
Jack shrugged in feigned innocence but blew a tender kiss in Sam's direction, bringing a fresh smile to her face. She took a shaky breath and felt the beginning of her next contraction.
She looked pointedly to the father of her child and cocked a warning eyebrow at him before grasping his wrist – in deference to his broken finger – and prepared herself for the wash of pain.
Her head fell back to the pillow for a brief moment, Jack hand lay gently on her brow and then…
The pain and the pushing bent her in double, her eyes squeezed shut against the searing whiteness that was blinding her. The blood in her ears muted all other sounds except Jack's soft, encouraging voice, bent to her height and whispering words of love and gentle promises.
It *almost* distracted her from some of the pain, but it didn't do enough.
"That's great, Sam. The baby's crowning, Sam."
That was Janet. Jack was by her ear.
And that was the end of that contraction.
The hot moisture of sweat and tears running down her face only helped to make her feel more uncomfortable. The pressure was unbelievable and she couldn't believe that it wasn't over with, yet. She wanted to sleep, wanted to rest, just wanted it to be over and done with already.
"It's almost over, Sam," Jack's voice was soft in her ear, almost lulling her to sleep. "You need to push really hard on this next one, that should be all it will take. You can do it, Sam. I know you can."
She shook her head, gosh, she barely had the effort to do that. How could they expect her to push? "No… Jack, please, just let me rest."
"Sam, you can't rest. You're almost there. You just need to push, and push hard."
She felt the contraction building. Gripping onto him, oblivious to the impressions her nails were leaving on his muscular forearm and grabbing a fistful of mattress with her other hand, she pushed with every last bit of energy she had left in her reserves.
When the pressure cleared and the fogginess of her eyes subsided, the busy sounds of the infirmary were buzzing around her and a warm hand was resting on her brow, it's thumb soothingly sweeping along her hairline. She could hear voices…. so many voices…
And then the clear piercing wail of the newly initiated baby cut the muted noises.
Her eyes snapped open and she met her father's warm eyes. He was crying.
"Dad?" She asked, instantly more awake. "Dad, what's wrong?"
He graced her with a watery smile and shook his head. "Nothing, Sammie. Absolutely nothing." He bent down and kissed her forehead.
"Where's Jack?" She asked, still feeling some residual worry along her nerves. She was so tired.
Jacob, still smiling, looked over the room to where Jack stood, facing away from them with Janet and Doctor Clark on either side of him. The baby's wails were slowly calming, but more than satisfying as to the lust for life the child had.
"Jack's holding your son."
A smile broke across her face as she quietly repeated, "My son." Then, a small look of dread crossed her features, "Oh, no…." she groaned.
"Sam? What's the matter?"
"Do you have any idea how intolerable Jack will be now? He was right. He was actually right."
"Sam, what are you talking about?"
She rolled her eyes, tired and not up to a long explanation of things for once in her life. "We had the whole boy/girl argument. He was right."
Jacob looked confused for a mere moment, then he laughed.
"Did we miss something?" Jack asked, approaching Sam's side a tiny bundle of blanket wrapped in his arms.
"Nothing really, Jack." Jacob responded, saving Sam from anything more than a slightly exhausted, embarrassed look.
"Have you discussed names?" Doctor Clark asked as she marked off a few things on the chart in front of her.
Sam looked over, wanting to see her son. Smiling when Jack knew without words exactly what she wanted, and gently placed their son in her arms.
She looked into the baby's face, immediately beaming at the tiny, perfectly smushed features. Almost instinctively, she found herself checking his fingers and toes; making sure everything was there. "He's so beautiful…"
"He takes after his mother there." Jack whispered.
Their eyes met, and Sam felt her smile fully explode. "Actually, we have picked out a name - just in case I was right." Jack replied to Doctor Clark's earlier question.
Jacob snorted with amusement and cast a knowing glance at his daughter and Sam just smiled up at Jack before becoming absorbed in their son once more. She fingers danced tentatively over his cheekbones and down into the soft blue blanket that he was wrapped in. She found herself indulging in counting his fingers, clenched into tiny little fists.
"Sam?"
"Hmmm?" She asked, looking up to see Janet eyeing her.
"What's his name?" as if it were obvious, but Janet graced her with an understanding smile.
"His name…" she sighed and then smiled at the group of people. "His name is Jonathan Riley O'Neill."
Jack bent down to get near his son, his hand reaching out to get caught in the tough grip of his newborn son. "Hi, Jonathan."
Jacob's eyes, already wet with tears, could not have shined any brighter. "Your mother would love that, Sam."
Jack squeezed her hand gently, affectionately. His bandaged hand firmly secured in his son's grasp. "You did great, Sam." He smiled, before leaning in to kiss her.
Janet was smiling brightly when Jack backed away a little. "I hate to break this up, but we need to do a few things real quick, and then I'm sure Sam would like to get some rest. She's going to need it."
Sam leaned down, placing a gentle kiss to little Jonathan's forehead before handing him over to Jack. "He's so perfect, Jack. I just can't believe it."
Jack took the tiny boy over to where some of the nurses stood and listened intently as they showed him how to wash him. The gruff Colonel grumbled that he'd had the opportunity to do this before, but none of them accepted that as an excuse. Sam was distracted by both Janet and Doctor Clark and she delivered the afterbirth, a final effort nearly putting her back to sleep.
Jonathan began to whimper again and Doctor Clark instructed Jack to bring him back to his mother and then proceeded to show Sam how to breast-feed, the baby catching on to the exercise with all the intelligence and diligence of his parents.
"That's excellent," Doctor Clark crowed, standing next to Sam and Jack, her smile radiant with pride.
Several feelings passed over Jack's face and then Janet was shooing every other person out of the room, including Jacob, who protested until Sam yawned quite loudly. Sam could just imagine the speed with which this information would spread through the mountain and wondered just how long she would be able to spend with just Jack and their child.
Jonathan sucked for a good fifteen minutes before he disengaged with a yawn of his own, his eyes heavy with his first sleep. His tiny hands pet his mother as if thanking her for her care and then softly fell into slumber.
Sam yawned again.
"You sleep, Sam. I'll be here."